Wind Quintet

Standard wind quintet uses flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, and horn—the five personalities in Western music that least pretend to be alike. The sound is bright, reedy, nasal, mellow, and brassy all at once; balance is tricky, articulation is everything, and the best writing exploits sharp timbral contrast as a feature rather than a problem.

Although mixed wind writing existed earlier, the fully canonical wind quintet repertory took shape in the early 19th century with Reicha and Danzi. Later pieces by Nielsen, Hindemith, Barber, Ligeti, and French and American modernists made the ensemble central to conservatory and recital culture.