Wind Quintet a flat Major op.14 Gustav Holst

study score (1903)

Bläserquintett As-Dur
(Fl,Ob,Klar, Hrn, Fag)

Wind Quintet in Ab Major Op 14
for woodwind quintet
by Gustav Holst (1874-1934)- English composer
I. Allegro moderato
II. Adagio
III. Minuet (in Canon)
IV. Air and Variations
Edited by Imogen Holst and Colin Matthews
Holst composed his Wind Quintet in 1903. A note in his list of compositions states that Holst sent the score in 1914 to the flautist Albert Fransella (who took part in the performance of the Terzetto in 1926). The work remained unperformed however, and all trace of it was lost until Holst's draft score turned up in a private collection in 1952. Then in 1978 the manuscript fair copy was discovered amongst the papers of Lucy Broadwood (1858-1929) which had been deposited in the Surrey Record Office. A copy of this score was kindly made available by the Broadwood Trust, and the work was performed for the first time on September 15th, 1982 by the Nash Ensemble in the Wigmore Hall, London.

In editing the music for performance, Imogen Holst and Colin Matthews have made several substantial cuts int he first two movements. Had Holst had the opportunity to hear the work, the editors are confident that he would have done the same, eliminating unnecessary 'padding' in order to match the concisenenss of the Minuet and Air and Variations. These two movements, with the exception of additional phrasing and dynamics, are published exactly as Holst left them.