Elgar: Four Dances for Wind Quintet - wind quintet

Elgar: Four Dances for Wind Quintet

The preview is an mp3

Four Dances:

1.Menuetto 

2.Gavotte ("The Alphonsa") 

3.Sarabande 

4.Gigue. 

These are some of Elgar’s earliest compositions and were written for a wind quintet of unusual composition: 2 flutes, oboe, clarinet and bassoon.

An important part of Elgar's early development as a composer was a wind quintet for which he not only composed but also played regularly during the years 1878-79. Elgar's younger brother Frank was a competent oboist while, to judge from the scores, his friends Hubert Leicester (later to become Mayor of Worcester) and Frank Exton were flautists of near professional standard. Hubert's brother William was co-opted to play the clarinet, while Elgar taught himself to play the bassoon to complete the quintet.

The five met on Sunday afternoons to play together in a garden shed and Elgar attempted to provide a new composition or arrangement for them to rehearse each week - a daunting task. 

These compositions are now known as "The Shed Music" or music written for the "Shed Quintet."

I have rearranged these pieces for a standard wind quintet of flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon and horn.

Check out my other Elgar arrangements