PDF Files	Finale Files
Score [Legal Size Paper]	download	download
Parts	download	download

Antoine-Joseph Reicha (1770-1836) published this work, the fourth of his Six Quintuors Op. 91, with the House of Simrock in 1819-20, the plate number being 1637. Nikolaus Simrock indicates that this is Quintet No. 10 in his series. The quintets themselves are entitled in Italian (Quintetto) within the parts, and in French (Quintuors) on the Frontispiece.

The instruments are given French names on the frontispiece: flûte, hautbois, clarinette,  cor and bassoon; but again, Italian pervades the actual parts: flauto (traverso), oboe, clarinetto, corno, and fagotto. No scores are supplied by Simrock for any of the Op. 91 quintets; in fact, it would have been quite unusual had this been the case. Like madrigals published in the 16th Century, we have‘part-book’ format in use for these works.

Clarinet in C is specified for this particular composition, while the hand-horn player will use both G and D crooks. I have supplied parts in Bb for the clarinet and in F for the horn, in order that modern clarinet and horn players might avoid transposition at sight in such a complex work.

The Op. 91 Quintuors are set in the following keys which alternate major with minor works:

No. 1 (7) Ut majeur
No. 2 (8) Là mineur
No. 3 (9) Ré majeur
No. 4 (10) Sol mineur
No. 5 (11) La majeur
No. 6 (12) Ut mineur

In the preface, which is signed by the five members of the original group which played these quintets, it is made clear that these wind players sought, through performing Reicha’s works, to remedy the overwhelming interest awarded to string instruments in chamber music of the day, at the expense of wind ensembles.

The original quintet for which this work was composed consisted of the following members:

Joseph Guillou (1787-1853) flute
Gustave Vogt (1781-1870) oboe
Jacques-Jules Bouffil (1783-?) clarinet
Louis-François Dauprat (1781-1868) horn
One Monsieur Henry was the bassoonist in the ensemble.

First Movement
Following a very serious introductory, an engaging sonata form appears. Among the host of wonderful themes (five primary and four closing), the most fascinating one occurs within the closing areas of the exposition and recapitulation: fascinating, because it is of the Klangfarbenmelodie variety (5k2, actually a variant of 5k1). Also, Reicha has no qualms about changing key signatures frequently, for during the development he moves from the basic key signature of two flats (for G minor) to six sharps, two sharps, and finally one sharp, before returning to two flats. This is truly an outstanding movement filled with detail that every wind player, fortunate enough to be able to play this work, is sure to enjoy. Be ready for a long blow, though, for this movement runs almost 16 minutes! As a footnote: Louis Rosenblatt found this movement not only long, but also repetitious. As to the latter, he is surely referring to the march-like Theme 5 which is heard six times during the movement: once in the exposition, twice in the development, twice in the recapitulation, and once in the coda. Reicha must have had a good reason for this: I suspect it is a tune he remembered from his days as a child in Prague.

Second Movement
Matching the weight of the first movement, Reicha now presents a bel canto aria in the dominant, complete with the composer’s own meticulous ornamentation. Solos of great beauty and difficulty are included for each of the instruments. As shocking as the harmonies accompanying the oboe solo are, the final ritornello with the horn riding over it, is the item that will have musicians talking about this movement for years to come. The work is laid out in ritornello form as follows:

Theme 1: flute
Ritornello
Theme 1: variation for flute and oboe
Theme 1: bassoon
Ritornello
Theme 2: clarinet; then flute and oboe: in IV
Transition
Theme 1: oboe with new spectacular harmony!
Theme 3: horn
Ritornello first half
Ritornello second half: with horn playing Theme 3
Coda: horn

Third Movement
What a glorious scherzo! Insofar as structure is concerned, though, it is a bit unusual. After the trio‘pastorale’ and its coda (set in the parallel major) Reicha writes out the da capo in full; but then he adds the trio again in order to end the movement in the major and with that fabulous coda which includes a brilliant horn flourish followed by a closing theme containing triple tonguing in the flute.

Fourth Movement
One might say that the triple tonguing of the previous movement was simply a warm-up for what will occur during this movement. In fact, the closing theme attached to Theme 3 is dominated by the flute executing garlands of triplets via this special technique.

The overall structure of the sonata form consists of four primary themes which are heard in their entirety both in exposition and recapitulation. The first two themes are set in 2/4, the remaining material in 4/4. The bodies of the development and coda are built up from Theme 3, but there is no profound thematic manipulation to speak of, only a revoicing and extension of the original material. Reicha is, afterall, striving for a light ending to a very lengthy composition, and he succeeds admirably. This is superb writing for wind quintet.