Wind Quintet (opus 23) was composed in 1972 when the composer was studying part-time at the Royal College of Music in London. John Lambert, his composition teacher, asked him to write a work for wind trio. Instead of writing a trio he wrote this quintet which was premiered by the Hillingdon Wind Quintet in 1978. In 1984 it was performed and recorded by the Capab Wind Quintet in Cape Town and broadcast on the SABC. In 1987 the BBC’s reading panel approved the quintet, and it was given a performance in Colchester by the prestigious Vega Wind Quintet before being recorded at Broadcasting House in London. It has received a number of BBC Radio 3 broadcasts over the years. The score is published by Accolade Musikverlag, Warngau

The quintet could be thought of as a sinfonietta for five wind instruments, falling as it does into four distinct sections or movements marked Energico, Molto Adagio e mesto, Prestissimo and Moderato assai. Much of the thematic material is derived from the melody stated on oboe at the start of the work. A triplet motif on clarinet, which appears in the middle of the first section, provides most of the thematic material to be found in the third section.

The opening section is essentially a series of contrapuntal explorations of the main theme. The second section is a deeply lyrical consideration of the theme’s melodic possibilities. The third, prestissimo, based on the clarinet’s triplet idea, is a scherzino with a mini trio. The fourth section is highly rhythmical and is linked to the scherzino by a short solo for bassoon. The jaunty theme of the finale, introduced on clarinet, is an inversion of the work’s main theme, which is restated in its original form at the end of the quintet. 

Duration: C 15 minutes