French Quintet

Paul Taffanel (1844-1908) was a French flautist conductor and composer. He contributed significantly to the repertoire of the Flute and his Wind Quintet also remains prominent to this day. In 1879 Taffanel founded the Society of Chamber Music for Wind Instruments reviving the wind ensemble music of Mozart and Beethoven. His Wind Quintet in G minor had been composed three years previously in 1876 and is made up of three movements; 1) Allegro con moto 2) Andante and 3) Vivace. For the repertoire of this popular ensemble arrangement Taffanel's Wind Quintet is an essentialaddition.

Full set of parts for Carl Nielsen's Wind Quintet Op.43 (1922) for Flute Oboe Clarinet French Horn and BassoonScore available: WH30739

This edition of Onslow's fifteenth String Quintet has the advantage of being either a two Viola or a two Cello quintet as it is published with parts for two cellists or two violists. It is a major work with good parts for all players with the 1st Violin part having a particularly large numbers of fast semi quavers (sixteenths) in the outer movements.It is known as 'The Bullet' due to the circumstances of its composition: Onslow was boar hunting in the Auvergne when a theme occurred to him. He dismounted and sat on a nearby fallen tree trunk and wrote it down. A boar then burst from the bushes and his companions fired missing the boar and hitting Onslow.The quintet was completed on his recovery and graphically illustrates his sufferings. George Onslow an Anglo-French composer was born in Clermont-Ferrand in July 1784 and died there in October 1853.

A four movement suite. The Couperin family's influence extended over five generations and was as important to French music as the Bachs' was to German music. François 1668-1733 (known as 'le Grand') was like his father organist of St. Gervais and in 1693 became organist to the King at Versailles. He excelled as a composer of keyboard music and produced an instruction book L'Art de Toucher le Clavecin which is valuable for the light it throws on contemporary practice in harpsichord playing. J. S. Bach knew and admired François Couperin's music and the two did correspond. Alas the letters disappeared when (according to an article in Grove) they were used as lidsforjampots!