Wind quintets from the 20th century

Swiss composers have written countless wind quintets for the Stalder Quintet, which was founded in 1955, but not the ones that the Art'Ventus Quintet has recorded on its new CD. The ensemble, made up of some of the best young Portuguese musicians, has only been playing together for three years, but has already reached a very high level. The flautist and oboist studied in Switzerland. For their program Swiss Treasures they have chosen works by Peter Mieg, Paul Huber, Paul Juon and Gion Antoni Derungs; the first two are premiere recordings. The graphically appealing CD also contains an interesting booklet text by Dominik Sackmann.

When Goethe said about the string quartet that you can hear four sensible people talking, this should actually also apply to a wind quintet, despite the somewhat larger instrumentation. In Peter Mieg's quintet, which was completed in 1977, you get the feeling that everyone is constantly talking and no one lets the others have their say. A glance at the score shows that most of the time all five instruments play simultaneously, which is really a weak point of the composition. The beginnings of the movements sound promising, but interest quickly wanes because the music is incredibly repetitive.

The quintets by Paul Huber, who was a musical institution in St. Gallen during his lifetime, and Gion Antoni Derungs, who was an important representative of Grisons music, are significantly better. Both works, composed in 1963 and 1977 respectively, adhere to tonality, but from today's perspective this cannot be a sign of a lack of open-mindedness or quality. The Portuguese quintet audibly identifies with the pieces and guarantees ideal performances. Huber's work consists of an expressive, melancholy Adagio and a virtuoso Scherzino, in the trio of which Ferdinand Fürchtegott Huber's folk song Luegid vo Berg und Tal is easy to recognize. Derungs' Divertimento, somewhat more modern than the other pieces on the CD and difficult to categorize stylistically, is, contrary to the title, not a particularly cheerful piece and may not be obvious on first hearing.

Confectioners from the canton of Graubünden were successful throughout Europe and often achieved considerable wealth, as evidenced by the villas of returnees in Poschiavo and Val Bregaglia. Paul Juon, born in Moscow, was the son of a Grisons confectioner from Masein. He received a sound musical education and studied composition with Anton Arenski and Sergei Taneyev. He himself later taught at the Berlin Academy of Music before spending the last six years of his life in Vevey. You will search in vain for Swiss traces in his music, but there were contacts with Swiss musical life. The Wind Quintet op. 84 from 1928 recorded here is dedicated to Jakob Vogel, who was president of the Bern Orchestra Association for many years.

Some of the best-known and most frequently performed wind quintets were written in the 1920s, such as those by Paul Hindemith, Carl Nielsen, Hanns Eisler, Arnold Schönberg and Jacques Ibert. Juon's quintet can easily bear comparison with these works. It is impeccably crafted, powerful and imaginative, often harmonically bold and challenges every instrument. The new recording by the Art'Ventus Quintet is very energetic, but the first movement is played noticeably too slowly, which gives it too much earthiness. The dynamics should have been better respected in some of the quieter passages, as it would have given the interpretation a little more relief.

Overall Swiss Treasures a CD worth recommending, as it documents works by somewhat lesser-known Swiss composers.

Swiss Treasures. Chamber Music for Wind Quintet. Art'Ventus Quintet (Paula Soares, flute; Tiago Coimbra, oboe; Horácio Ferreira, clarinet; Nuno Vaz, horn; Raquel Saraiva, bassoon). Prospero PROSP0081