Oboe quintet explained

An oboe quintet is a chamber music group of five individuals led by an oboist, or music written for this ensemble.

Usually an oboe quintet consists of an oboe and string quartet. Pieces for five oboes or five members of the oboe family are uncommon (only two are listed below): double reed quintets are not only rare but almost always include a bassoon.

Of the 105 listed quintets, 35 were composed between 1770 and 1825, none in the next 65 years, 3 between 1880 and 1920, 27 between 1920 and 1980, and 40 since.

The most performed and recorded oboe quintets are probably those by Arnold Bax and Arthur Bliss, who both dedicated their pieces to the British oboist Léon Goossens.

Music for oboe and string quartet

These pieces are for oboe, two violins, viola, and cello unless otherwise indicated.

Composer	Title	Year^[1]	Length (min.)	Publisher	Record label
Bernardo Adam-Ferrero	Homenaje a García Lorca for ob & str qt	2005	8'		NCA
Kalevi Aho	Quintet for oboe & strings ^[2]	1973	29'		BIS Finlandia
Richard Arnell	Oboe Quintet	1944	24'
Jan Bach	Quintet for ob & str	1958	18'	Meadow Music
Sérgio Azevedo	Oboe Quintet	2004		AVA
Robert Baksa	Quintet for Oboe and Strings ^[3]	1972	18'	Carl Fischer Presser	Capstone
Virko Baley	Orpheus Singing	1994	11'		Cambria; Musicians Showcase
Christian Frederik Barth	Divertissement in G major for ob & str qt	1820		MusicaStorica
Arnold Bax	Oboe Quintet]^[4] ^[5]	1922	17'	Boosey & Hawkes	Recorded by 9+ labels
Howard Blake	Oboe Quintet, Op. 131	1971	13'	Highbridge Music
Arthur Bliss	Quintet for ob & str, Op. 44, F. 21 ^[6]	1927	20'	OUP Masters Music	Recorded by 8+ labels
Luigi Boccherini	6 Oboe Quintets, Op. 45, G. 431-6 ^[7] ^[8]	1797	9 to 11'	Sikorski Peters	Capriccio; MHS
William Bolcom	Serenata Notturna	2005	21'	Presser
Rutland Boughton	Two Pieces for ob & str ^[9]	1937	8'		Hyperion
Frits Celis	Quintetto, Op. 57 ^[10] ^[11]	1995	21'		Phaedra
Friedrich Cerha	Quintet for ob & str qt ^[12]	2007	17'
Brian Cherney	In the Stillness of the Summer Wind ^[13]	1987	16'
James Clarke	Oboe Quintet ^[14]	1992	8'		Metier; Composers’ Art
John Cooney	Taking Liberties ^[15]	1990	12'	BMIC
John Corigliano	Aria for ob & str qt ^[16]	1985	6'	G. Schirmer	Albany
Lewis Cornwell	Retrospection	1981	6'	AMC
Donald Crocket	Celestial Mechanics ^[17]	1990	17'		CRI
Gordon Crosse	Oboe Quintet	1988	15'
Bernhard Henrik Crusell	Divertimento in C major, Op. 9	1822	10'	Sikorski; Peters; Amadeus	Hyperion, Naxos
Estércio Marques Cunha	Quinteto para oboé e quarteto de cordas	1999		Manuscrito
Caspar Diethelm	Bucolicon, Op. 202 ^[18]	1982
Antal Dorati	Notturno and Capriccio	1926	13'		Dux; MD&G Records
Georg Druschetzky	Oboe Quintet in C major ^[19]	1808	13'		Ambroisie
Dorothy Dushkin	Quintet for Amanda	1956		New Valley
Gerald Finzi	Interlude for ob & str qt, Op. 21 ^[20]	1936	11'	Boosey & Hawkes	Boston; Carlton; Chandos Conifer; Hyperion
Christopher Fox	Oboe Quintet ^[21]	1995	15'	BMIC	Metier
Joseph-François Garnier	Quintette concerto en ut majeur	1790	7'		Koch Schwann
Dorothy Gow	Oboe Quintet in 1 movement ^[22]	1936	14'		Oboe Classics
Stephen Gryc	Fantasy Variations on a Theme of Béla Bartók ^[23]	1992	11'		Opus One
Daron Hagen	Oboe Quintet ^[24]	2000	17'	Burning Sled
Matthew Hindson	Rush : for ob & str qt	2001	9'	Faber
Gustav Holst	Air and Variations for ob & str qt Three pieces for ob & str qt Op. 2	1896	3' 13'		Chandos
John-Paul Christopher Jackson	Passacaglia for ob & str qt	1993	6'
Gordon Jacob	Concerto for ob & str qt ^[25] ^[26]	1933	23'	Stainer & Bell
Bernhard Kaun	Quintet for ob & str	1940		Leeds
Charles Koechlin	6 Pieces, Op. 179 ^[27]	1942		Eschig
Rodolphe Kreutzer	Grand Quintet in C major ^[28]	1800	15'	Boosey & Hawkes	Hyperion; Koch
Franz Krommer	Oboe Quintet P VII:12 in C major Oboe Quintet P VII:13 in E flat major	1790	24' 27'		Naxos
Rolands Kronlaks	Conversion	2000	7'
Henri Lazarof	Quintet for ob & str qt	1997	15'	Presser
John Anthony Lennon	Myth of Aeolia	2008	10'	ACA
Elisabeth Lutyens	The Fall of the Leafe	1966		Olivan
Andrew Paul MacDonald	Pythikos nomos, Op. 39^[29]	1996	23'		Centrediscs
Elizabeth Maconchy	Oboe Quintet ^[30] ^[31]	1932	12'	Chester Music	Oboe Classics; Dutton Vocalion
David Matthews	The Flaying of Marsyas, Op. 42	1987	19'	Faber	Metronome
Robert McBride	Quintet for ob & str	1948	5'	G. Schirmer; ACA
Darius Milhaud	Les Rêves de Jacob, Op. 294 ^[32] ^[33] ^[34]	1948	17'	Heugel	CPO
Richard Mills	Songs without Words	1998		AMC
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart arr. Lucarelli	Oboe Quintet in C minor, K. 406 ^[35]	1789	24'	IMC	Naxos; Capriccio; Caro Mitis; Amon Ra
Gottfried Müller	Quintet for ob & str qt	1950	19'	Küffner & Drechsler
Vazgen Muradian	Concerto for ob & str qt, Op. 25 ^[36]	1962	25'		Crystal
Josef Mysliveček	6 Quintets for ob & str qt ^[37]	1770		^[38]
Sigismund Neukomm	Quintet for ob & str qt, Op. 8 in B-flat^[39]	1809	26'	Amadeus	Pan Classics
Páll Pálsson	September Sonnet	1991	9'	Icelandic Music
Gabriel Pierné	Piece in G minor for ob & str qt, Op. 5 ^[40]	1883	3'	Masters Music
Ignace Joseph Pleyel	3 Quintets, B.280-282	1788		J.A.Offenbach
Quincy Porter	Oboe Quintet (Elegiac) ^[41]	1966	19'	Highgate Press	CRI (CRL235)
David L. Post	Aria for ob & str qt	1994	6'	F.E. Warren
Roger Redgate	Quintet for Oboe and Strings ^[42]	2003	6'		Metier
Anton Reicha	Oboe Quintet in F major, Op. 107	1825	26'	Musica Rara	Hyperion; MDG; Pan
Tim Risher	Words and Deeds	1993
Aulis Sallinen	Echoes from a Play, Op. 66	1990	15'	Novello
Gerhard Samuel	Two Moods for ob & str qt	1997		LKM
Peter Seabourne	Soaring ^[43]	2007	17'
John Shaffer Smith	Quintet for ob & str qt	1951		Carl Fischer
Margaret Sutherland	Serenade	1953		AMC
Toru Takemitsu	Entre-temps for ob & str qt	1986	12'	Schott	Telarc
Joan Tower	Island Prelude	1989	10'	G. Schirmer	Naxos
Antonín Tučapský	Oboe Quintet	1997
Mark-Anthony Turnage	Cantilena	2001	11'		Onyx Classics
Robert Ward	Quintet for ob & str qt	2005	19'		Albany
Donald Wheelock	Ten bagatelles	1972	9'	King's Crown	Albany
John Woolrich	Oboe Quintet	1998	20'	Faber
Anton Wranitzky	Quintet in G minor	1800
Paul Wranitzky	6 Quintets for ob & str, Op. 1	1789		André http://www.wranitzky.com/works_published_by_andre.htm

Other settings

Composer	Title	Year	Length (min.)	Publisher	Record label
Jos van Amelsvoort	Quintetto I^[44]	1994	10'	Donemus
Rob du Bois	Chansons pour appâter les chéiroptères ^[45]	1975	8'	Donemus
Théodore Dubois	Oboe Quintet in F major ^[46])	1905	28'	Silvertrust	ATMA Classique
Anton Eberl	Quintuor Brillant in C, Op. 48^[47]	1790	23'		CPO
David Froom	Quintet for Oboe, Strings and Piano	1991	17'		Arabesque
Peter Golub	Quintet for Oboe, String Trio and Piano	2010
Franz Anton Hoffmeister	6 Notturnos (Quintets) ^[48] ^[49]	1780	14' to 22'		Tudor Records
Sergei Prokofiev	Quintet in G minor, Op. 39^[50]	1923	20'		Delos Capriccio; Cambria
Johann Samuel Schroeter	Quintet 1 in C ^[51]	1780

See also

• Oboe quartet

References

1. Years in italics are estimates, which may be off by more than a decade.
2. http://www.allmusic.com/composition/quintet-for-oboe-strings-mc0002384861 Aho Oboe Quintet
3. http://www.allmusic.com/composition/quintet-for-oboe-string-quartet-mc0002396331 Baksa Oboe Quintet
4. http://www.allmusic.com/work/quintet-for-oboe--strings-c26777/description Bax Oboe Quintet
5. http://racheloboes.blogspot.com/2008/04/arnold-bax-oboe-quintet-program-notes.html Bax oboe quintet program notes
6. http://www.allmusic.com/composition/quintet-for-oboe-string-quartet-op-44-f-21-mc0002363535 Bliss Oboe Quintet
7. http://www.allmusic.com/album/release/boccherini-oboe-quintets-mr0002143670 Boccherini Oboe Quintets
8. 1. 1-5 in G, F, D, A, and E-flat major, and # 6 in D minor.
9. Entitled 'Somerset Pastoral' and 'The Passing of the Faery'
10. http://www.allmusic.com/composition/quintet-for-oboe-string-quartet-op-57-mc0002495148 Celis Oboe Quintet
11. The oboist also plays the English horn
12. http://www.doblinger-musikverlag.at/Neuersch/details.php?sp=1&detail=3824 Cerha Oboe Quintet
13. https://www.musiccentre.ca/node/22712 In the stillness of the summer wind
14. http://www.jamesclarke.org/04worklist.2013.10.html Clarke Oboe Quintet
15. Winner of the RPS Composition Prize 1991. Revised in 1999
16. Composer's own adaptation from the 4th movement of his 1975 Oboe concerto
17. Commissioned by the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra
18. Alternatively for oboe, horn, violin, viola and cello
19. http://www.allmusic.com/composition/quintet-for-oboe-string-quartet-in-c-major-mc0002596533 Druschetzky Quintet
20. http://imslp.org/wiki/Interlude_for_oboe_and_string_quartet_(Finzi,_Gerald) Finzi Oboe Quintet at the Petrucci Music Library
21. http://www.allmusic.com/composition/oboe-quintet-mc0002678299 Fox Oboe Quintet
22. http://www.allmusic.com/composition/oboe-quintet-in-1-movement-mc0002650363 Gow Oboe Quintet
23. Later arranged for oboe and string orchestra
24. http://www.daronhagen.com/store/oboe-quintet Hagen Oboe Quintet
25. http://www.gordonjacob.org/w_oboe_strings_conc.html Jacob oboe quinte
26. In 1935 arranged for oboe and string orchestra as his "Oboe concerto No 1
27. Transcribed by the oboist Lajos Lencses. Originally 14 pieces for oboe and piano
28. http://www.allmusic.com/composition/grand-quintet-for-oboe-or-clarinet-strings-in-c-op-9-mc0002369031 Kreutzer Quintet
29. The oboist also plays the English horn and oboe d'amore
30. http://www.allmusic.com/composition/oboe-quintet-mc0002635535 Maconchy Oboe Quintet
31. Receive the Daily Telegraph chamber music prize in 1933
32. http://www.encoreccm.org/pieces/521 Milhaud Oboe Quintet
33. http://www.allmusic.com/work/jacobs-dreams-dance-suite-for-oboe-string-trio-double-bass-op-294-c50133 Milhaud Oboe Quintet
34. For oboe, violin, viola, cello, and double bass.
35. For oboe, violin, two violas, and cello. This is a transcription (a.o. by the oboist Humbert Lucarelli) of Mozart's String Quintet No. 2, which was the composer's own arrangement of his earlier Serenade No. 12 for Winds
36. http://www.allmusic.com/work/concerto-for-oboe--string-quartet-op-25-c470199/description Muradian Oboe Quintet
37. In B-flat, D, F, C, Ar, and E-flat major.
38. There is one undated manuscript in the Biblioteca Comunale in Treviso
39. Written to be played by either oboe or clarinet.
40. Composer's arrangement; originally for oboe and piano
41. Porter's last major work; written for the oboist Robert Bloom
42. http://www.allmusic.com/composition/quintet-for-oboe-strings-mc0002384861 Redgate Oboe Quintet
43. Originally for oboe and piano, in 2003 transcribed for oboe and piano quintet; piano dropped in 2007
44. For 2 oboes, oboe d'amore, English horn, and heckelphone
45. For oboe, 2 oboe d'amores, and 2 English horns
46. For oboe, violin, viola, cello, and piano.
47. Published posthumously in 1808, but thought to be an early work https://www.amazon.com/Eberl-Grand-Quintetto-Op-Trio/dp/B000SOME16
48. http://www.allmusic.com/album/franz-anton-hoffmeister-notturnos-quintets-for-oboe-violin-two-violas-horn-bassoon-w127959/review Hoffmeister oboe quintets
49. For oboe, violin, two violas, and horn or bassoon.
50. For oboe, clarinet, violin, viola and double bass
51. For oboe, violin, viola, cello, and clavichord

Sources

• Oboe Quintets at all music.com
• Oboe Quintets at the Petrucci Music Library