WOODWIND QUINTET #1
Victor Vincent Salvo
B. M., Berklee College of Music, Boston, 1974
PROJECT
Submitted in partial satisfaction of
the requirements for the degree of
MASTER OF MUSIC
in
COMPOSITION
at
CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, SACRAMENTO
FALL
2011
WOODWIND QUINTET #1
A Project
by
Victor Vincent Salvo
Approved by:
__________________________________ , Committee Chair
Stephen Blumberg
__________________________________ , Second Reader
Leo Eylar
Date
ii
Student: Victor Vincent Salvo
I certify that this student has met the requirements for format contained in the University
format manual, and that this project is suitable for shelving in the Library and credit is to
be awarded for the Project.
________________________, Graduate Coordinator
Ernie Hills
Department of Music
iii
__________________
Date
Abstract
of
WOODWIND QUINTET #1
by
Victor Vincent Salvo
My idea in this, my first woodwind quintet, was to compose five movements or vignettes
that would feature a different instrument in each of its sections. While the five instruments
comprising a woodwind quintet blend well together, each has its own distinctive voice,
which is explored along with each instrument’s unique personality and range. It has
always intrigued me that musical instruments, perhaps especially the winds, have the
unique ability, without human voice or expression, to elicit a wide range of moods and
emotions. Humor and tragedy, darkness and light, heaviness and buoyancy, love, fear,
pathos and much more can quite readily be evoked by any of these instruments depending
upon turn of phrase, harmony, texture, dynamics, rhythm and the myriad possibilities of
the interplay between all of these elements and between the instruments themselves. The
first, third and fifth movements, featuring, respectively, flute, clarinet, and bassoon,
employ brisker tempos with more upbeat and occasionally humorous melodies while the
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second and fourth movements, featuring, respectively, the oboe and horn, contain more
reflective melodies at slower tempos. In this way do I hope to communicate, or frame, at
least some of the feelings, positive and otherwise, which we all experience at one time or
another.
Each movement has at least one small solo section for the featured instrument as a
contrast with the full ensemble sound that gets ample exposure. Major and minor
modalities are used freely and interchangeably, and while key signatures are not used,
none of the movements are atonal and all contain key centers, which serve as harmonic
anchors. One of my goals in these vignettes is to create a harmonic background that is not
entirely literal and that contains a certain element of ambiguity. This technique is, for me,
analogous to using pastels as opposed to brighter, more defined colors in a painting, and
serves as a binding agent, which unites all five movements with regard to harmonic
accompaniment.
In order to make more possible the playing of the entire quintet in one concert, I have
limited the duration of this piece; it can be performed in less than eighteen minutes. As
such, there is very little development in each vignette. Rather, I have generally
constructed for each movement an introduction, a statement of themes (usually two per
movement), connecting or transition sections, a re-statement of the primary theme and a
coda as a punctuation mark. To provide variety, each of these sections varies in length
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and the solo sections come in different places from movement to movement, at times
doubling as the introduction, at other times acting as a respite from the concerti sections.
_______________________ , Committee Chair
Stephen Blumberg,
_______________________
Date
vi
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I would like to express my deepest and most sincere appreciation to my Composition
professors: primarily Stephen Blumberg, who guided me from the first days of my
Master’s studies to the last. Thank you, Stephen, for your patience, your positive attitude,
your encouragement and your expertise- all of which has proved to be invaluable to me in
this journey that has lasted over two years.
Thanks, also, to Leo Eylar for being extremely supportive, for your sense of humor, and
for challenging me to go higher in my compositional aspirations. I learned much from
you in our one term together.
I also wish to express my thanks to the many professors I studied under in my various
coursework at CSUS since my first term in the Fall of 2009. I have learned a considerable
amount of musical knowledge from each of you and I truly thank you for your many
kindnesses and the wonderful and enthusiastic way you conducted your classes that I was
privileged to be a part of.
With all my heart I thank you all for the treasures you have shared with me during my
time at the University!
I also wish to express my appreciation to my wife and daughter for all your patience,
encouragement, and for simply “being there” for me through the many trials and
challenges of my Master’s work. Without your assistance and support the fruit of all
these labors would be greatly diminished. Thank you both!
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
Acknowledgments............................................................................................................. vii
Chapter
1. INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................... 1
2. MOVEMENT I .............................................................................................................. 3
3. MOVEMENT II ............................................................................................................. 5
4. MOVEMENT III ........................................................................................................... 7
5. MOVEMENT IV ........................................................................................................... 9
6. MOVEMENT V........................................................................................................... 11
Appendix Woodwind Quintet #1 (Score).......................................................................... 15
viii
1
INTRODUCTION
The woodwind quintet as a genre can be said to have been established with the twentyfour Quintets of Czech-born Anton Reicha (1770-1836) which he composed in Paris
between 1811 and 1820 to fill a void created by a dearth of good pieces for
woodwinds. Apparently, composers at that time knew little of the rapidly evolving
technique of woodwinds as well as developments in their manufacture, thus the relative
absence of a repertoire for such an ensemble. The nine Quintets of German-born Franz
Danzi (1763-1826), who was known for his well-crafted and tuneful compositions, also
contributed to helping establish the woodwind quintet at that time. While the form lost
popularity in the latter half of the 19th- Century, interest was renewed by many leading
composers born in the 19th- century, viz. Carl Nielsen, whose opus 43 Woodwind
Quintet composed in 1922 is highly regarded, Gustav Holst, Arnold Schoenberg,
Heitor Villa-Lobos, Darius Milhaud, Walter Piston and Paul Hindemith. Additionally,
many composers born in the 20th century expanded the woodwind quintet repertoire,
notably Elliot Carter, Samuel Barber, Vincent Persichetti, Gyorgy Ligeti, Luciano
Berio and Karlheinz Stockhausen.
Today, the woodwind quintet is a standard chamber ensemble that is widely appreciated
for its versatility, tone color, and its surprisingly broad dynamic range. There are
numerous prominent woodwind quintets in the world today, including two nominated
for a Grammy award in 2006 (Borealis Wind Quintet and Imani Winds) and the
Quintette Aquilon, which won First Prize at the ARD International Music Competition
2
in 2006. Another distinguished quintet is the Dorian Wind Quintet, formed in 1961 at
the Tanglewood Music Festival. Composers who have produced works especially for
this ensemble include Luciano Berio, Lukas Foss, Mario Davidovsky, and Jacob
Druckman.
Unlike the string quartet, the instruments of the woodwind quintet differ markedly
from each other in technique, timbre and idiom. The modern wind quintet grew out
of an ensemble, an octet consisting of two oboes, two clarinets, two horns, and two
bassoons, which was favored in the court of Joseph II, known as the "Musical
King," in late 18th· Century Vienna. Joseph II was a Holy Roman Emperor who
was widely considered one of the three great Enlightenment monarchs, along with
Frederick II (The Great) of Prussia (1712-1786), a gifted musician who composed
over 100 sonatas and four symphonies and who met J.S. Bach in 1747, and
Catherine II of Russia (1729-1796), who was a noted patron of the arts during her
reign (1762-1796). Joseph II commissioned works by both Mozart and Beethoven.
Joseph Haydn's chamber writing, combined with the technical advancements being
made in the development and manufacture of these instruments, made them more
facile and therefore more versatile and effective in small ensemble performance.
Refinements and advancements in the production process in turn made possible
more technically difficult pieces being composed for these instruments.
3
MOVEMENT I
In the first movement, the flute’s lighthearted, sprightly character is highlighted. It is
introduced first in a type of soliloquy and is joined, one by one, by the oboe, clarinet,
horn, and bassoon. The full ensemble plays only two bars (mm. 12-13) before the flute
continues its solo through measure 18. The introduction, built around a key center of A
(purposefully neither major nor minor), continues and climaxes at its end in bar 25. The
modality of the theme initially carried by the flute could be called double-minor (m.26,
beats1-2 in G minor, beats 3-4 in C-sharp minor) and this first-stated melodic segment
peaks at high G. The second statement of a similar ascending nature (mm. 49-51) starts
the same as the first but remains in the mode of G Dorian, and peaks at high A. The
melodic material in this movement is drawn from different sources, e.g. the whole tone
scale (A, B, D-flat, E-flat) employed by the flute (mm.5-6) and echoed by the oboe (m.6).
This is balanced by a descending chromatic scale (clarinet mm. 8-9).
The three-note motif first introduced in the third bar, whose intervals move down by step
then down by a third, is used extensively and is repeated in turn by the flute, oboe and
bassoon. I should mention that this motif is used fairly often in each of the first three
movements and also can be found on occasion in the fourth and fifth movements. The
flute and oboe later return to this motif (mm. 59-60). A second motif, played by the flute
as part of the primary theme (mm. 25-26) clearly suggests parts of three different scales:
D, G, and C-sharp minor. A contrasting use of the minor scale fragment can be found in
bars 32 (flute, clarinet, and bassoon in F minor), 38 (flute and oboe in D minor), again in
4
bar 38 (clarinet and bassoon in A minor) and in bar 40 (flute and oboe in F minor). The
use of several different minor scale fragments lends the movement a type of tonality
without one dominant over-arching diatonic feel. A contrasting two bar interlude (mm.
41-42) outlines a whole-tone scale (beats 1 and 3 by the flute and oboe), followed by a
two bar transition/return to the use of mixed minor scales in bar 45.
Harkening back to mm. 25-26, bar 47 again outlines three different minor scale fragments
and ushers in a cadence on an A augmented 7th chord (mm. 48-49) which again suggests
whole tone harmony. This then leads to a re-introduction of the first theme in the same
modality, but with a twist as the ascending line remains on a D natural minor scale and
reaches a whole step higher than the first statement of this melody (mm. 25-26). After the
use of octatonic scale material (m. 52) there is a touch of ambiguity with an E-flat minor
eleventh chord at the start of bar 53 soon followed by a contrasting unison section
anticipating the return to mixed minor scales as material for the buildup to the end, which
only hints at minor tonality.
5
MOVEMENT II
My goal in the second movement was to give the oboe a melody that would explore the
more plaintive side of its personality as opposed to its capabilities to sound playful and
lighthearted. Thus I aimed for a reflective portrayal by using an essentially minor diatonic
melody over a steadily shifting harmony of hybrid chords, which serve as the
introduction. The juxtaposed major chords (e.g. F-sharp major over E major, E major
over D major, F-sharp major over E major again, B major over A major, etc. in mm. 1-4)
in the eleven bars before the primary theme is first stated by the oboe provide a somewhat
ambiguous harmonic introduction which presages the harmonic undercurrent of the main
theme but does not hint at what is coming melodically. The hybrid backdrop continues as
the oboe plays its minor theme starting at bar 12. The harmony is provided by the flute,
clarinet and horn with the hybrid bass line provided by the bassoon. This initially-stated
theme is five bars long and is followed by what is first heard as a mirror-image theme
(starting m. 17) transposed down a major 2nd but which quickly alters direction while
maintaining its basically diatonic sound which soon thereafter leaves its harmonic
support for a solo foray (mm. 23-32).
This section, at its beginning, wanders away from the D minor and E minor modalities of
the main theme but quickly returns to its D natural minor roots before transitioning to a
restatement of the primary theme- this time up a third in F minor and with the bassoon
joining the flute and clarinet in providing the harmony over the horn bass notes. The
difference in this presentation of the main theme is that it reaches higher melodically
6
in ensuing bars (mm. 34-35) and digresses into a somewhat whimsical transition
section, beginning at bar 41, that, at first, sounds like a re-start of the primary
melody, this time in F and A minor. Instead, the movement changes gears with a new
melodic phrase taken up by the oboe. To provide harmonic contrast, bars 43 and 45
contain parallel major chords (E-flat and D-flat with a raised eleventh, a Lydianmode chord found often in this quintet). The trills and held notes employed in this
section, as well as the ritardando, are analogous to a fade-out in a movie as it segues
to a more sparely orchestrated B section (mm. 48-58). The material in these bars is
derived from octatonic scales and represents a contrast, both harmonically and
melodically, from what precedes it.
From bar 59, it is clear that the end is in sight, as the first three notes of the primary
theme are voiced by the oboe as a motif, echoed (though not literally), by the other
instruments one by one and coming to a cadence point, after a crescendo, with a
forcefully sounded B-flat minor chord at bar 64. The characteristic intervals of a
semi- tone up and down, which distinguish the start of the main theme, can be
heard at the beginning of the concluding section (mm. 65-66), this time stretched
out rhythmically. As if to underline the softer dynamic level and to accentuate the
dying out of this movement, the harmonic modulations generally descend by a third
from bars 68 to 74, with the oboe voicing its sad farewell. The final chord is an Fsharp minor, embellished with a ninth and an eleventh, initially with a crescendo,
followed by a decrescendo to a fermata that ushers in a last gasp surge in volume.
7
MOVEMENT III
My idea with the third movement was to provide a theme for the clarinet that would
combine the instrument’s ability to sound playful and humorous with its equal capacity to
sound more somber and poignant. I had the image in mind of a mime exhibiting
expressions that make the viewer both laugh and cry as both humor and sadness are
evoked. The full range of the clarinet is used toward eliciting these feelings. Although a
key center of C major is used for this movement’s primary theme, there are several
chromatic alterations both melodically and harmonically throughout.
The introduction presents an outline of a whole-tone scale, first covered by the flute and
oboe (voiced a tone apart for a bit of initial comic effect) and the clarinet (mm. 1-6) in
descending, then ascending phrases. The total silence in bar 4 represents a “Now, what?”
moment as the mime suddenly stops before moving on with his presentation The
resumption of motion finds the clarinet more loosely playing around the whole-tone scale
in with phrases (in reverse direction from mm. 1-6) that employ a three-note motif found
several times in the first two movements (a tone followed by a semi-tone and a major 3rd
down). The tempo rubato (mm. 7-13) is meant to accentuate the introductory movements
of the mime in a suggestive way as the listener/observer wonders what direction the
music/act is heading. The rhythmically exaggerated intervallic leaps in bars 11 and 12 are
meant to further heighten the comic effect.
The full ensemble completes the introduction with the clarinet sounding a chromatic
scale (mm. 14-16) played over chords that soon provide the harmonic basis for the
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main theme. The final bars of the opening (mm. 14-19), as well as the first presentation
of the primary melody, beginning at bar 20, have the effect of other mimes or clowns
joining the act, with repeated chromatic alterations both melodically and harmonically
and a slightly faster tempo adding to the comedy.
Bars 26-28 offer a contrasting, more serious mood, as mimes often do, before reverting
gradually to the slapstick effect from bar 29. After the cadence point (mm. 32-33), a
whole-tone scale is employed (mm. 34-37) which recalls its use in the introduction. The
bassoon then provides a 3-4 measure respite for the other instruments as it plays a
chromatically altered modal minor phrase leading back to an abridged re-introduction
of the primary theme at bar 49. Although the harmony is essentially the same as that
used to frame the first statement of this theme, the melody is embellished in a manner
that exaggerates the comical effect of the line. This is followed by a restatement of the
theme an octave higher, starting at bar 55 with a transition section (mm. 57-60)
culminating in a cadence point (mm.60-61) similar to the one used at bars 32-33. Bars
62-66 provide a bridge to the coda section, which starts softly at bar 67 and builds to its
high point at bar 71 before winding down dynamically to its end at bar 77.
The finale starts at bar 78 with the final re-statement of the theme, this time with G
major as a key center. The phrases used in bars 85 and 86 echo the very first bars of
this movement with a downward cascade started by the flute and finishing with a
crescendo. The accented notes of this phrase frame the final harmony, a C minor ninth
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chord, which offers a contrast with the two statements of the primary theme in the key
centers of C and G major.
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MOVEMENT IV
Although the horn, being a brass instrument, has a robust side to its timbre and
personality, in the fourth movement I accentuate its more reflective and introspective
sound qualities. Using a theme originally composed in four, in order to provide more
interesting possibilities rhythmically, this movement moves through different meters
before ending in four beats per measure for the main theme’s final statement. My goal
with this movement is to tell a somewhat sad story, and the horn is perfectly suited
for relating such a tale with its poignant yet dignified tone.
The introduction begins as if in F natural minor, but, just as it seems to circle back to this
modality as it transitions to the full ensemble completing the opening (mm. 16-21), its
trail takes a little twist as it modulates unexpectedly down to the key center of E minor.
In order to provide more interesting lines for the other instruments accompanying the
horn, the first statement of the main theme, beginning in bar 22, is written with five
beats to the bar. This section, ten bars in length, ushers in an eight-bar transition section
employing six beats to the bar. Although basically remaining in the key center of e
minor, this section finishes with two chords, C major (mm. 36-37) and B-flat major
(mm. 38-39), harmony that has an ambiguous sound, as these chords are presented in
first inversion and contain raised fourths. Their appearance at the end of this section
seems to signal a modulation to a major key center, but, in another twist to the tale, bar
40 introduces another essentially minor theme beginning with B and E Phrygian minor
modes (mm. 40-41). This new theme seems to take up the initial plaintive horn melody
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with its borrowed Perfect 5th interval (this time in a contrasting ascending motion), and
is taken up alternately by the oboe, bassoon, clarinet and flute in different variations as
the horn is given a rest. Building dynamically, this section reaches its high point of
resolution in bar 51. Borrowing loosely from bars 36-39, bars 52-55 also employ major
chords with raised fourths, this time in second inversion, as a new transition begins,
building dynamically to bar 61 before a decrescendo (with a corresponding horn
crescendo) leads back to a re-statement of the primary melody, this time in F minor, with
four beats to the bar. The final presentation of the main theme (mm. 63-73) is supported
by a re- harmonized accompaniment that is more rhythmically active than its initial
statement, giving this section impetus toward its denouement beginning at bar 74.
The distinguishing melodic interval of this movement, a Perfect 5th down, is
remembered by the horn at bar 79 and echoed by both the flute and bassoon in bars 80
and 82, as if recalling some earlier sentiment in the story this movement describes. The
inversion of this interval, a Perfect 4th, also appears, first in the oboe (mm. 80 and 82)
and then in the horn itself (mm. 83-84 and 87-88), as if looking at an aspect of the story
from a new perspective. The last chord is a final recall of the harmony employed in bars
36-39 and 52-55: an A-flat chord with a raised 4th, this time without the 3rd, lending a
concluding moment of ambiguity to a reflective tale.
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MOVEMENT V
The fifth and final of the five movements of this woodwind quintet presents the
lighthearted side of the bassoon’s personality in a minor-mode frolic that keeps things
moving in a near- perpetual motion. As this movement is the finale of the piece, the
tempo is brisk (dotted-quarter = 132 beats-per-minute), lending a sense of propulsion and
urgency in summarizing the music of both the movement and the entire set of vignettes.
This movement revolves around a key center of B-flat minor and the harmony makes
several temporary divergences, mostly chromatic ones, e.g. into B minor (m. 14) and A
minor (m.16). There are other short forays into key centers a little farther away, e.g. Fsharp minor by the flute in bar 11, and E-flat minor by the clarinet in bars 30-31. Nearly
all of these melodic phrases begin on the fifth of the scale and begin with an interval of
a semi-tone up, returning to the first tone before moving down (usually diatonically
bystep). This initial three- note fragment represents a motif that binds together the
movement as it moves around to its different key centers.
The ubiquitous presence of the eighth note, especially over the first 74 bars, is such that
when the quarter note becomes the predominant unit of measure (from bar 75 to the end),
the listener still feels a shadow-like presence of eighth notes in bars 75-81. The first bars
of the introduction establish the eighth-note as the unit of measure and hint at the
primary melody through a series of melodic snippets interspersed among the five
instruments. In a game of musical tag, the listener must wonder which instrument will be
“it” and carry the first melodic load. There are occasional sections of different meter to
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break up the piece and give it some additional rhythmic contrast, notably bars 35-45 in
12/8 and, in a temporary departure from the rapid-fire eighth notes, bars 75-81 in 6/4.
The bars in 9/8 contain contrasting rhythmic patterns of 3+3+3 and 3+2+2+2, providing
contrast and diversity.
The accompaniment over the first seventeen measures is spare with the exception of the
horn, which has more legato phrases. Starting at bar 18, the instruments play in pairs:
the flute and oboe alternating with the clarinet and horn in a B section that culminates at
bar 27 and leads to a re-statement of the primary melody starting at bar 28. The tag game
resumes with each instrument joining the chase in counterpoint. This movement then
makes a diversion into the key centers of E-flat minor at bar 33, A minor at bar 39 and G
minor at bar 41, before the bassoon connects to the next section with a two-bar solo
(mm.44-45). This is followed by a section (mm. 46-56) which is intended to be an
extended reprise of the introduction as it cycles back to another re-statement of the
primary melody, this time modulating to the key center of D minor at bar 57 and
modulating again to C minor at bar 59.
At this point, there are three more very brief forays (mm. 61-63) into the key centers of Bflat minor, A minor, and D minor which usher in a more contrasting section employing
whole-tone harmony (mm. 64-67), giving the bassoon a rest. Although the whole-tone
scale is used in these three bars, echoes of the main melody, rhythmic and intervallic, are
heard, lending a sense of unity to the movement. These echoes then continue (mm. 68-71)
in a cascading fashion by all instruments except the flute, which plays a high-voiced
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pedal-point. Bars 75-80 then provide a break in the use of near constant eighth-notes, yet
again mimicking the primary melody as the bassoon counters with an ascending bass line
leading to the fermata at bar 80.
The wrap-up to this movement really begins at bar 81, starting with a mix of quarternotes and eighth-notes as momentum builds both dynamically, texturally, and
rhythmically over the last 22 bars. The melodic material in this buildup only slightly
references the primary melody. After several contrapuntal lines shared by all instruments
(mm. 81-90), the group plays in concert over the last thirteen bars on a G-flat major
seventh chord with a raised 4th that serves as the harmonic basis for the climax which
reaches its peak in the movement’s last two bars after a crescendo trill by all players.
This finale is meant to convey an ending to the game of musical tag that started at the
movement’s onset. With the increasing use of unisons, starting in bar 91 and carrying
straight through to the final accented note, the game has ended and all contestants
(instruments) race home.
In conclusion, I believe I have presented five somewhat contrasting pieces that highlight
both the unique sound that a woodwind quintet is capable of producing, and the
distinctive voices of each individual instrument. Suffice it to say that this effort has
whetted my appetite to compose additional wind quintets and that I have enjoyed
immensely putting these movements or vignettes together.