After listening to Six Bagatelles for Wind Quintet (1953) by Ligeti (1923-2006), Nielsen’s (1865-1931) Wind Quintet (1922), and Harrison Birtwistle’s (1934-2022) Five Distances for Five Instruments (1993), I have concluded that in every work, the composer exploits different qualities, timber and tones of the instruments. The agility and speed of the instruments are addressed by using quick tempo, fast rhythms, runs and staccato articulation. The expressive legato is mainly used in the oboe solo and flute, with long notes and sustains. However, the bassoon is also employed. The horns are not so frequently used for melodic material. The use of sforzando or fp is also applied to effectively address the quick attack of the instruments. The dynamic range is between pp to fff, addressing in this manner the different timbre of the instruments in the quintet. It will seem that the highest pitches are assigned to the flute. The composers appear to create colouristic and textural contrast by applying the following combinations, oboe, clarinet and flute, primarily in pp dynamic. Flute, oboe and horn. Oboe, clarinet and bassoon. Horn and bassoon. The use of accented notes is applied to enhance the pieces, and tutti is also exploited to produce textural contrast. One of the effects noticed was the stopped horn. The flute and bassoons in octaves seem to be very effective for bolder statements.
Orchestration and Arrangement 