Wind Quintet in Bb Op.56 no.1 - Franz Danzi (1763-1826)
Allegretto - Andante con moto - Menuett and Trio - Allegro

Danzi was born in Mannheim and studied with Vogler. He composed 11 operas, several cello concertos and most importantly, thirteen wind quintets. He and his contemporary Antonin Reicha were the first to write for the wind quintet. Neither Beethoven nor Mozart wrote for the combination, thus Danzi is an important representative of music for winds in the Classical era.

Pastorale Op.14 no.1 - Gabriel Pierné (1863-1937)

The oboe and flute ’s light conversational passages transport the listener into a typical French pastoral scene in this beautifully simple movement, which truly demonstrates the lyrical quality of Pierné’s music.

Quintet no.2 - Marin Goleminov (1908-2000)
Prelude - Six Paraphrases on a Single Theme - Burlesque

The Bulgarian composer Goleminov studied at the Schola Cantorum with Vincent d’Indy. As well as being a chamber musician, violinist, conductor of the Sofia Radio Orchestra and Professor at the Sofia Academy, Goleminov found time to compose many stage works, his most acclaimed being The Fire Dancer and The Golden Bird.

Goleminov wrote two wind quintets. The second, written in 1946 betrays his effective use of instrumental timbre and colour. The opening movement has two contrasting themes – a low growling tune on flute, and a sad mournful duet for oboe and bassoon. The theme of the second movement maintains the serious nature of the Prelude. It reappears in various guises – a pastorale, funeral march, fantasia and scherzando. In the closing Burlesque, the second subject bears a distinct resemblance to the theme of the finale of Stravinsky’s Firebird ballet.

Groove Merchants - Ronan Guilfoyle b.1958

Ronan Guilfoyle is one of Ireland’s best-known jazz musicians. He studied bass and improvisation with Dave Holland in Banff, Canada and as a bass player he has performed extensively in Europe, Asia and the USA. He is director of the jazz department at Newpark Music Centre, Dublin and has lectured on improvisation for the International Music Council of UNESCO. As a composer he has written for theatre, television, film, orchestra and chamber groups. Groove Merchants was written in 1996 and the first UK performance was given by the Aurora Ensemble at Sheffield Cathedral in September 2000. Groove Merchants is based on a groove established at the outset by the bassoon, which imitates a slap bass. The other instruments enter in turn, each with a distinct motive and imitating a jazz instrument - clarinet (sax/clarinet), oboe (trumpet), horn (trombone), and flute (scat singer).

Walking the Dog - George Gershwin (1898-1937) arr. Arthur Harris

The score to the film Shall we Dance? was the first work written by the Gershwins after Porgy and Bess. The music was actually scored for a chamber orchestra - quite unusual for George Gershwin, who normally wrote the music then passed it on to studio arrangers for the scoring. It is set on an ocean liner and Fred Astaire plans to meet Ginger Rogers during the hour allotted to the passengers for dog walking.

Credits

This project was made possible by generous funding from Musique d’Ensemble/FNAPEC and The Linden Fund through the Community Foundation.

Special thanks to John Lawley, Ronan Guilfoyle, Andrew Cottee
Recorded at the Royal College of Music November 14th and 15th 2002
Producer John Lawley, Engineer (tbc). Design Ron Rous, Halberton Studio
Photography Clare Green, Manufacturing Parish Recording