Pan - Journal of the British Flute Society
American composer Amanda Harberg’s Suite for Wind Quintet was commissioned by the Dorian Wind Quintet in 2017. The piece is a unique concoction of Harberg’s musical voice blended with Renaissance- and Baroque-inspired dance suites, as suggested in the titles of the four movements; Cantus, Furlana, Fantasia and Cabaletta. The theme first appears in the Cantus and is mostly developed through canons and harmonic shifts until its final iteration in the Cabaletta. The score and parts are clear, practical and engraved with care. The charming colours of the wind quintet are largely drawn from 18th century textures. The horn writing is challenging, with little preparation for notes in the high register, and is a large and tiring work for every instrument. Nevertheless, there are many moments of beauty and excitement in this 18-minute work and it would be well placed in any professional wind quintet’s programming.
Katy Ovens
From the Publisher
The depth and charming inventiveness of Harberg’s Suite can only be described as remarkable. Each movement has a degree of archaic inspiration (seen in the movement titles), newly stirred up into dramatic, exciting sounds and stories. Cantus begins with the imitative entries of Renaissance motets and maintains a modal flavor. Furlana plays on the Italian folk dance rhythm in 6, punctuated by lots of unexpected 5’s. Fantasia hints at being a lullaby with an animated middle section, and the closing Cabaletta is true to its 19th-century meaning of an ornate closing section following beautiful lyricism.
Performance duration (approx): 18'00
Movements
- Cantus
- Furlana
- Fantasia
- Cabaletta
Item Details
Instrumentation
- Part 1: Flute
- Part 2: Oboe
- Part 3: Bb Clarinet
- Part 4: French Horn
- Part 5: Bassoon
Publisher: Theodore Presser Company
Publisher's reference: 114-41949
Our Stock Code: 1452402
Media Type: Paperback - Score and parts (120 pages [score])
