QUINTETO

Quinteto
for wind quintet: fl.[+picc.]/ob.[+eng.-hr.]/clar.[Bb & A]/bsn./horn

• composition date: 1997-98/rev. & corr. 2024
• duration: ca. 11:30 min. (2’+4’30”+2’+3’)
• movements:
  I – Preludio
  II – Lamento
  III – Humoresque (intermezzo)
  IV – Finale
• pre-premiere (partial presentation – only Preludio and Lamento): 14/07/2004 | Fundação Oriente, Lisbon (Portugal) | Artziz Quintet [Iwona Saiote (fl.)/ Pedro Ribeiro (ob.)/ António Saiote (cl.)/ Abel Pereira (hr.)/ Hugues Kestman (bs.)]
• official premiere (complete version): 16/02/2008 | Instituto Franco-Português, Lisbon (Portugal) | Diaphonia Quintet [Natália Monteiro (fl.)/ David Costa (ob.)/ Iva Barbosa (cl.)/ Thomas Gomes (hr.)/ Ricardo Paraíso (bs.)]
• international premiere: 10/06/2012 | Igrexia Parroquial de Mantuas, concello de Silleda, Galicia (Spain) | Pentafonía Quintet [David Martínez Lombardía (fl.)/ J. Manuel Abal Rosales (ob.)/ Martín Baleirón Frieiro (cl.)/ Samuel Pérez Llobell (hr.)/ Alejandro Valcárcel Moura (bs.)]

The Quinteto for wind instruments (flute/oboe/clarinet/bassoon/horn), a work from 1997-98 with extensive revisions from 2000 until the final version of 2024, derives from a clarinet quartet I wrote back in 1992-93, while still a student in the Oporto Conservatory of Music. The thematic material (both melodic and harmonic) used in the first, second and fourth movements is basically the same as that earlier version for clarinets, although here extensively reworked. The third movement, an intermezzo, was at a time also planned for the clarinet quartet original version but was only fully realized for this new quintet format.

The initial Preludio is in a cyclical form of continuous variation, with two very brief themes, one more rhythmic and the other more cantabile (both limited to two bars), being continuously metamorphosed throughout the movement.

The Lamento is a free fugatto in which reverence for the old masters of fugue is evident. The harmonic use of open fourths and fifths, either by superposition or by parallel motion, also suggests a kind of stylized medieval sound world.

Humoresque, in turn, is a ternary form (ABA’), where the contrasting middle section is a satirized waltz presented by the horn. The recapitulation of the initial section is in free retrograde form, meaning that the order of the notes is inverted in relation to the original, although this feature is used mainly in the accompaniment.

Lastly, the Finale is also a ternary form (ABA’), with two distinct themes in the initial A section, both very lively and energetic: the first in the clarinet mainly on the high register, and the second also in the clarinet doubled by the bassoon, but at the opposite end, on the low register. The contrasting middle section is lyrical and calmer. It’s based on the thematic material of the ‘waltz’ from the third movement, also presented here by the horn, although this time the accompaniment evokes the harmonic atmosphere of the Lamento in a tapestry of parallel perfect fourths. The recapitulation of the initial section (A) is significantly shortened, almost a mere ‘coda’, and in fact, only part of the first theme (clarinet/high register) is clearly repeated. The low second theme, on the other hand, when it reappears on the bassoon, is ‘crushed’ by the superimposition of four other themes from previous movements, with this final section acting as a summary of the entire work. The Finale concludes with a massive  fff stridente, brutale for all players, presenting the exact same three chords with which it began.

buy sheet music:
https://editions-ava.com/produto/quinteto-1