Woodwind and Brass Quintets; All Things Not Equal

A ramble on the woodwind quintet genre.

In the realm of chamber music, French horn players are in a very unique position. They are an integral part of two established genres: the woodwind quintet and brass quintet.

Both groups can be incredibly rewarding for a hornist to perform in. A horn player lucky enough to be working in both groups at once is exposed to a wide range of personalities, repertoire and playing techniques. I have found too that when actively working with a woodwind and brass quintet simultaneously my overall endurance, tone control and musicianship is at its peak.

Jumping into the heart of the matter, the table below compares and contrasts some of my casual observations on performing in both groups:

Of course these are very general observations and are not hard-and-fast rules by any means. (I welcome an open debate with comments below.)

The most interesting area of this table for me of late (and possibly for students pursuing freelance work) are the points under “In Performance.” While performing in a woodwind quintet can be enormously rewarding, this genre of chamber music exists in an ever shrinking and more limited field I am afraid.

Swan Song?

I am not sure where this blog is going or what purpose it serves, but in the interest of full disclosure I should reveal that a woodwind quintet that I have played with for over ten years has recently dissolved. The story behind this is complicated, but one part of the story I believe is that in this new century, a concertizing woodwind quintet is a very hard sell.

Very few professional woodwind quintets exist any more outside of academe and regional orchestra outreach programs. I am not sure why this is, but the woodwind quintet does not seem to have the same public appeal as brass quintets (or string quartets). Looking through the Internet, a Chamber Music America catalog or any classical music management agency confirms this. The number of recognized, established woodwind quintets can sadly be counted on one hand.

Contrast this with recognized brass quintets, of which there a quite a few. Most metropolitan areas in the U.S. support several (if not more) active brass quintets. A handful of brass quintet groups even perform as full-time touring ensembles.

I attribute this contrast between the two mediums to several factors:

• Brass quintets are more “sexy” than woodwind quintets – meaning that to the average concert goer, brass groups are more flashy and impressive to watch and listen to.
• Most brass quintets these days encorporate choreography of one kind or another into their concerts.
• The almost mythic popularity of groups like the Canadian Brass continue to raise public awareness of brass quintets. No such woodwind group even comes close to this level of popularity.
• Brass instruments are more instantly recognized than woodwind instruments by the general public. As more and more American school programs reduce their music programs, and fewer young people participate in band, this disparity will most likely continue into the next generation.

Lost in the Fray

While some woodwind quintet repertoire is arguably on par with any of the major string quartet repertoire, overall it has no where near the breadth or depth. The same might be said of brass quintet literature, however many brass groups make up for this lack of depth by producing entertaining “shows.” This extra level of showmanship has great broad audience appeal and inspires a loyalty to a brass group’s brand. This is something that most woodwind quintets do not do.

In terms of marketing appeal then, the woodwind quintet currently exists (or is lost) somewhere between the string quartet – which relies on a vast repertoire of recognized masterworks – and the brass quintet – which relies on song and dance routines.

Without a large library of recognized literature or staged choreography, a woodwind quintet is not as marketable as it once was years ago. I can only hope that a woodwind quintet on par with the Canadian Brass or Emerson String Quartet will step up someday and prove me wrong.