My favorite small classical music ensemble is the woodwind quintet, partly because I’ve played the clarinet in my share of amateur quintets, but more so because of the crisp and unusual sound coming from the combination of clarinet, flute, oboe, bassoon, and french horn (yes, I know the french horn is not a woodwind and no, I don’t know why they still call it a woodwind quintet). There is not much free and legal woodwind quintet music online. A splendid exception is the New Israel Woodwind Quintet previously reviewed on this blog.. However the unfortunately now defunct Soni Ventorum Wind Quintet ups the score with a load of free music from their web page. The web site is a well designed tribute to this excellent quintet, an ensemble that merited praise from no less a legend than Pablo Casals. There are 48 works available for downloading, some of them are quintets or quartets but others are larger wind ensembles. Many of them such as the Danzi and Carter quintets are essential works for anyone studying music for woodwinds. Using the traditional criteria for classical compositions on Free Albums Galore , the featured works must be over 15 minutes long and it must be good, I’ve narrowed it down to eleven pieces but they are all exceptional. There are two shorter exceptions but I’ll explain that as I go through the picks…

Beethoven’s Octet for Oboes, Clarinets, Horns & Bassoons is a minor work by the great composer but a peppy one. It is perhaps a little too peppy with the first movement sounding like a mad dash out of the starting gate. It certainly doesn’t detract from this delightful work. Beethoven was known for his melancholia but he clearly wrote the octet on a very good day.

Elliot Carter is featured with two works. His 8 Etudes and a Fantasy for Woodwind Quartet is best seen as a exploratory piece, an exercise in the possibilities of this particular ensemble. There is a lot going on with this composition but it tends to capture the mind not the heart. The Woodwind Quintet is one of the classic modern works for this ensemble and because of that I made an exception to its eight minute duration. It is a technically difficult composition to perform but has a jauntiness that is quite contagious to the listener.

Franz Danzi is an obscure German cellist and composer of the late 18th and early 19th century that is unknown to most people but his several woodwind quintets are essential compositions for any quintet’s repertoire. Here we have the Soni Ventorum Wind Quintet doing exceptional performances of Quintet for Winds no, 2 in E Minor and Quintet for Winds no 3 in E flat major.

Jean Francaix is another composer that is not exactly a household word. His work of the early 20th century are usually classified as neoclassical and generally have a distinctly light quality. The Wind Quintet is no exception.

The Kleine Kammermusik for Wind Quintet by Paul Hindemith is the other exception to the 15 minute rule although it is awfully close at 13 minutes. Hindemith is one of the giants of 20th century classical music and his composition for wind quintet is a marvel. It is one of my all-time favorite quintet works.

Mozart’s Serenade no. 11 for Winds is a pretty piece of “Night Music” and is written for eight players. The small wind ensemble or Harmoniemusik, which was usually more like the size of a small chamber orchestra, was quite popular with the 18th century Austrian aristocracy and it is easy to see the royals strolling around in their finery to this quietly splendid work.

Danish Romanticist composer Carl Reinecke is represented by two extended wind ensembles; the Octet for Flue, Oboe, 2 Clarinets, 2 Horns and 2 Bassoon and the Sextet for Flute, Oboe, Clarinet, 2 Horns and Bassoon.

William O. Smith is a contemporary composer whose best works are for woodwinds, especially the clarinet. He is better known as jazz clarinetist Bill Smith who did some excellent recordings in the 50s with The Dave Brubeck Quartet. His Jazz Set for Violin and Wind Quartet borrows from both worlds. You can also check out his web site which has a free MP3 recording of his Variants for Clarinet.

All the works are available in 160kbps MP3s. As previously stated there are over 40 pieces on the quintet’s site so knock yourself out.

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