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Antoine-Joseph Reicha (1770-1836) published this work, the third of his Six Quintuors Op. 99, with the House of Simrock in 1822, the plate number being 2003. Nikolaus Simrock indicates that this is Quintet No. 15 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. 99 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.

The frontispiece of Simrock’s edition of Reicha’s Op. 99 indicates that this third quintet (No. 15 in Simrock’s series) is set in key of F major, while, in reality, it is in the key of A major. For that reason Clarinet in A is specified, while the hand-horn player uses the E crook. I have supplied parts for all four movements in F for the horn, in order that modern players might avoid transposition at sight in such a complex work.

The Op. 99 Quintuors are set in the following keys:

No. 1 (13) Ut majeur
No. 2 (14) Fà mineur
No. 3 (15) La majeur (not Fà majeur as listed)
No. 4 (16) Ré majeur
No. 5 (17) Sì mineur
No. 6 (18) Sol majeur

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
Introduzione: Lento [Eighth note=54] (70 is more appropriate); Allegro [Half note=88]; Allegro assai [Dotted half note=96]

Following a ritornello and recitativo with a substantial horn solo, a sonata form marked C [alla breve] Allegro, ensues. In a surprise move, Reicha changes both the meter and tempo for the second theme, and later for all of the closing thematic material: in these spots one finds ¾ Allegro assai. The development reverts to C [alla breve]  but soon  moves to¾ again. Such erratic changes are the hallmarks of the Early Romantic Movement. These ideas would have a profound effect on the young Hector Berlioz, one of Reicha’s most prodigious students.

The exposition of this movement contains four primary themes and four closing themes, the second of which could be considered primary because of the manner in which it asserts itself. The development section begins with a short transition leading to two additional themes: one in C [alla breve], the other in 3/4; there is no real development here. The recapitulation is an almost 'carbon copy' of the exposition excepting that Theme 4 and the ensuing closing material are all placed in the tonic rather than in the dominant. A short but fascinating coda is attached to the end: fragments from the third primary theme and the third closing theme, and all of the second closing theme are contained in its makeup.

Second Movement
Andante [Quarter note=66] (76 is more on the mark)

Set in the dominant, a short chordal ritornello leads to a mildly imitative Theme1 in this sonata form. A contrasting Theme 2 in bel canto style follows and it is largely given over to a horn solo; in the recapitulation the clarinet will become the soloist for Theme 2. There is no development section in this movement, but the contrapuntal texture which permeates much of it, more than makes up for this missing section. There is a bit of maneuvering in the recapitulation because Reicha had to move the closing theme for Theme 1 to a position after Theme 2 in order to obtain a satisfactory ending.

Third Movement
Menuetto: Allegro [Dotted half note=96] (86 is more realistic)

Despite the gravity of the counterpoint in the slow movement, this quintet is, overall, a rather bright, light-weight work. To be sure, the meantone key of A major is surely a contributor to that feel; but, for players of modern instruments, that aspect is lost. In any case, this swiftly-paced scherzo is a good match for the outer movements.

The structure of the minuet-scherzo is laid out in the usual rounded binary form with trio and da capo. The trio, itself, is given over to highly virtuosic bassoon and flute solos, and is also set in rounded binary form, but the key is that of subdominant, D major.

Fourth Movement
Finale: Andante [Quarter note=56]; Allegro poco vivo [Half note=112] (102 seems to be more in the ball park)

Reicha chooses yet a third sonata form to bring this energetic quintet to a close: this particular structure has no repetition of its exposition and only a short 'development' section.  The most interesting aspect of the entire movement, though, is Theme 1 (structured AA'BAA') which, at first, appears to be just a slow introduction. Reicha, later incorporates part of it (AA') into the development. Theme 2 is remarkable too: set in the relative minor, it incorporates very wide intervals within its contours. There is a third primary theme (Theme 3) and six closing themes (3k1-3k6).

To be sure, this is one of those sonata forms where development and recapitulation are relative terms determined by tonality only. Realistically, one should call the second section of this movement a development/recapitulation since its thematic material set out in the following order: Themes 2, 3k4, 1 || 3, 3k1-3k5, 2, 3k2, 3k6, 3k1fragment. There is no real development at all, but the first three entries in the second half of this sonata form placed are in the following tonalities: i, bVI, IV as befits a development section.  The tonic is reestablished with the recapitulation of Theme 3. Theme 2 does not reappear in the tonic until towards the end of the six closing themes attached to Theme 3, but Theme 1 never reccurs in the tonic.