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Antoine-Joseph Reicha (1770-1836) published this work, the fourth of his Six Quintuors Op. 99, with the House of Simrock in 1822, the plate number being 2005. Nikolaus Simrock indicates that this is Quintet No. 16 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.

Clarinet in A is specified for this work, while the hand-horn player uses the D 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
Andante [Quarter note=52] (66 is better); Allegro spirituoso [Half note=88]; Presto [Dotted half note=96] (80 is more realistic). No rubric is specified when the Dotted half note=96; I have arbitrarily chosen Presto to represent this change. There are no further metronomic indicators of tempo beyond the first movement.

After the introduction, Reicha gets the exposition of this sonata form underway in a quick moving 4/4. There are two primary themes and five tonicizing closing themes. During the course of the second closing theme, Reicha  inserts a four-measure phrase of ¾, a most wonderful effect. The development section, which is based on motives derived from Theme 1 and the transition which follows it,  includes two startling ¾ sections in a much quicker tempo [Presto]. The recapitulation, as with many of Reicha’s sonata forms, is not thematically signaled, instead, a return to the tonic and the second section of Theme 1 (actually a lukewarm reorchestration of Theme 1) informs us that we are there; this time around we get to hear the second closing theme with the ¾ phrase twice! During the course of the coda Reicha inserts the missing brilliant opening section of Theme 1. This same movement includes the first appearance of 5/4 (3+2) in the Op. 99 Quintets: three measures of this unusual meter are found within the body of the slow introduction which, otherwise, moves in¾.

This is a great movement requiring advanced technical agility among the players!

Second Movement
‘Marcia’ poco lento would have been a better designation for this movement, insofar as communicating its style to the performers is concerned. The structure is that of a rondeau set in the dominant with two couplets; the latter are composed as demanding solos for horn and bassoon respectively. The first solo in the subdominant includes a good deal of subdivision by three, while the second, in the parallel minor, concentrates exclusively on subdivision by four. Each time the refrain is presented, there are slight, but interesting, differences in its orchestration and in the handling of its thematic material. 

Third Movement
Despite Reicha’s consistent use of the rubric Menuetto for the third movements of his quintets, all the 'Menuetti' of the quintets contained in the Op. 91 and Op. 99 are actually scherzi. To be sure, the composer has been extremely lax in informing us about this stylistic fact. Thus far only the Menuetto of this quintet and of the first within the present series contain the added rubric.

The scherzo at hand has no trio, but Reicha’s rounded binary-form structure is substantial enough that the movement is fully in balance with the other three movements of the quintet. This is an unusually dry movement, but Reicha does his best to enliven it with syncopation, Klangfarbenmelodie, and one unusually telling closing theme (Theme k1 and its variation for flute).

Fourth Movement
This finale is really quite sensational in every way. The initial thematic material of the movement (Themes 1 and 2) is based upon the sort of military motives one finds in the Feldpartie, a kind of ceremonial wind music that Reicha knew form his youth at the courts of the Öttingen-Wallersteins and Archbishop-Elector of Cologne. More important, as this unusual movement commences, we begin to understand what Reicha actually believed insofar as the structure of sonata form is concerned: exposition and development are the only constituants, period. Here, there is an outstanding exposition of six themes that progresses to the dominant, which is solidified with three closing themes. But what happens next is just amazing: Reicha returns to the tonic, presents Theme 2 and begins the development right then and there. To be sure, all the themes of the exposition do reappear, but at times the order (Themes 2, 4, 3, 6k1, 5, 6, 6k1-6k3, 2, 1+2) seems somewhat difficult to follow because of the developmental process which is constantly manipulating this material, Reicha never missing a chance to engage in counterpoint. Of course, in the long run, all that matters in a movement is, does it work; and this one is outstanding in that regard!