Woodwind quintets are small musical ensembles made up of any combination of five woodwind players. People consider woodwind quintets as chamber music groups, but woodwind quintets routinely perform for large audiences on the stage. Woodwind quintets play many different styles of music. People who say "woodwind quintet" also sometimes mean the music that these groups perform.
The term "woodwind quintet" is a bit of a misnomer. This is because one of the five players in a traditional woodwind quintet is a french horn player. The other instruments in a standard woodwind quintet are the flute, oboe, clarinet and bassoon, which musicians consider true woodwinds.
All five instruments in these types of chamber ensembles at some point may have melodic lines in the music performed, as all five instruments in the group are capable of both great lyricism and virtuosity. The oboe and clarinet are most likely to have the melody, however, with the horn and clarinet usually alternating between melodic and supporting harmonic roles. The french horn has a considerable range capable of extending into bass pitches, but typically, the bassoon part covers the bass part.
Each instrument in a woodwind quintet has a different shape, is made from different materials and has a vastly different technique than the other instruments in the ensemble. The result is that the woodwind quintet has one of the most colorful tonal palettes of any chamber group. This means that woodwind quintets offer an incredible amount of variety in terms of expression. It is this primary feature, combined with the practical economic and portability advantages in writing for just a few players, that so many modern composers find attractive about the ensemble.
Woodwind quintets did not get their start until the late 18th century. This was in part because the instruments in a woodwind quintet were still under development prior to and during the baroque period. The genre first was explored by composers such as Antonio Rosetti, who lived during the late baroque and early classical periods. The work of Anton Reicha and Franz Danzi, however, solidified the compositional grouping. Woodwind quintet music lost some favor during the late 1800s, but woodwind quintets experienced resurgence in the 20th century as composers such as Arnold Schoenberg, Vincent Persichetti and Paul Hindemith turned them into standard chamber groups.
Professional woodwind quintet players perform concerts of woodwind quintet music. They also perform at events such as weddings. The quintet music these groups play often is technically demanding, with contemporary music sometimes calling for extended techniques not often used. For the student, woodwind quintets often are the first opportunity players have to develop the true skill of molding into a cohesive chamber unit.