[WARNING: this article is longer than the typical MM snippet.]
The short answer is: “It’s complicated.”
The world of “classical” music is a history of evolution, progression, change, and permutation. During the past five centuries—consider the 1500s a starting point—music compositions and performers evolved along with the evolution the instruments available, and they sometimes began as rather primitive noise makers.
For centuries before then, music was primarily vocal, and the forms and messages of the music were dictated by the canons and scriptures from the reigning theological authorities in any given region.
The “woodwind quintet” began to be accepted as a standard ensemble in the late 18th century and had some recognition in the early 19th century. It then was rather abandoned until the end of the 19th century. For some reason, composers then took a liking to it, and now it has become a favoured ensemble by composers, nearly matching the popularity of the standard string ensembles such as the String Quartet, and …Quintet.
The string instruments achieved standardization back in the 1500s, but the winds—all winds—took much longer to reach the level of sophistication and development they are today. In the classical world, some things take a while to reach the level of acceptance and “standard repertoire” and practice.
The Woodwind Quintet is comprised of four woodwinds and one brass instrument: flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, and “French” horn. Technically, the modern professional flute is usually handmade from either platinum, gold silver or any combination of them, and thus is no longer a WOODwind. (The wood flute is making a comeback, and the preferred material for the piccolo is wood, as it diminishes the shrill often heard in metal piccolos.)
The modern horn is relatively new, having reached a plateau in its evolution in the late 1800s when valves were introduced which allowed much greater versatility in playing successive notes in all registers. Prior to then, musicians produced notes based on the natural overtone series and could only play successive notes in the higher ranges. As the instrument developed, so did the virtuosi, then the compositions.
The clarinet did not become a standard accepted instrument until the late 1700s, and the flute did not reach this stage until a breakthrough in middle of the 1800s with the standardization of “keys and levers” to cover the holes, rather than just the fingers—such as with the recorder family. The oboe and bassoon are more “ancient” instruments that evolved earlier.
The main impediment to the development of the woodwind quintet ensemble was based not only on the quality and ease of play of the instruments, but also the control of the sound by volume, quality of tone and—perhaps most importantly—the ability to balance the tone of all the instruments as a unified ensemble.
While these instruments were evolving physically, composers were seeking venues removed from the concept of imitating the human voice. The earlier works using wind instruments often were paired with small string ensembles. As the instruments became more manageable and musicians more virtuosic, the ensemble bonded, so to speak. The key ingredient: BALANCE.
Balance is not relegated to just volume and tone, but also to complexity of sound. The woodwinds by themselves produced pleasant and agreeable sounds, and together eventually they worked well, but were characterized as “thin.” The addition of the mellow and flexible “French” horn was the piece that solidified the ensemble as it is known today.
Hundreds of composers from the 20th century to the present have composed for the woodwind quintet—often known as simply “Wind Quintet.” The agility of the instruments, the tone, the ability to blend and balance, make the ensemble a sought-after venue. The key ingredient, as it turned out, was time.
the Music Master
