Quintet in F major for Clarinet, Bassoon, Two Horns, and Piano, Op. 8 (2015)
I. Allegro
II. Andante quasi Adagio
III. Allegro vivace
I composed this piece for horn players Szilard Molnar and Rhonda Kremer as a companion piece to my String Quartet no. 2. The instrumentation was inspired by Mozart’s Piano Quintet K. 452, a piece for oboe, clarinet, horn, bassoon, piano. In place of an oboe, I substituted two horns, because it would be such fun to compose with the Classical “hunting horn” figures normally reserved for orchestral works. The final movement begins with such a figure, first heard in the piano, quietly, almost as a suggestion to the horns. The horns take up the suggestion, entering in jubilant forte.
This piece is characterized by the special timbre produced by the four winds: an especially warm, blended tone. Acting as a wind choir, this quartet of winds passes musical ideas back and forth with the piano. An even more distilled wind trio appears in the second movement’s opening, a low, rich chorale for two horns and bassoon. As the movement develops, the winds trade a warm, amorous theme back and forth with the piano, delaying the clarinet’s entrance. After the theme, the clarinet finally enters with an extended and passionate aria-like passage. As the spontaneous, playful character of the outer movements might suggest, this instrumentation was especially fun to write for.
Quintet for Clarinet, Bassoon, Two Horns, and Piano