This album presents four diverse 20th-century works for wind quintet, showcasing a range of national styles and compositional voices.
Samuel Barber’s Summer Music, Op. 31 is a lyrical, single-movement piece filled with rhythmic and coloristic sophistication, composed in 1956. Positioned between two of his major works—the oratorio-like Prayers of Kierkegaard and the opera Vanessa—this quintet reveals a more relaxed, chamber-like side of Barber’s expressive palette.
Harald Sæverud’s contribution is an arrangement for wind quintet of his Piano Suite No. 1: Tunes and Dances from Siljustøl, originally composed in 1942. Deeply inspired by the Norwegian countryside, the suite is built from vivid, melodic lines that flow freely without harmonic constraint, emphasizing the unique character of each wind instrument.
André Jolivet’s Sérénade (1945) brings a French voice shaped by non-European influences, particularly Asian music. Known for his rhythmic inventiveness and tonal color, Jolivet gives the oboe a leading role in this work, which features intricate rhythms and shifting time signatures across its four movements.
Paul Hindemith’s Kleine Kammermusik für fünf Bläser, Op. 24 No. 2 (1922) offers a prime example of his Gebrauchsmusik—music for practical use—written in a light, witty, and accessible idiom. Though stylistically restrained, it is finely crafted and playful, typical of Hindemith’s neoclassical aesthetic.
All works are performed by the Bergen Wind Quintet, made up of solo players from the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra. Their precise ensemble playing and individual artistry bring these varied compositions vividly to life.
