SOOM Quintet
Wind Quintet – Paul Taffanel
Wind Quintet – John Harbison
SOOM is a quintet (flute, clarinet, bassoon, French horn, and oboe) of Juilliard students who took their name from a Korean word that, appropriately, means breath. The two pieces they played were vastly different from each other. I guessed at movements when taking my notes, as no printed program was available.
The first movement of the Taffanel was a fun march (though not really martial). It was very pleasant, with a nice mix and range of dynamics. The second was gentler and had an extended horn solo tune accompanied by the others. It reminded me of an aria. The full group then played together, though at times the clarinet and oboe had their individual moments to shine. Once again, it was pleasant without being too sweet. The third movement was brisk and had touches of playfulness, almost as if they were chasing each other or running around, just for the fun of it. There was a false ending, and then the real one with a button to cap the piece off. Written in 1878, it was the only wind quintet that Taffanel composed. Those last tidbits were announced from the stage after the piece was over.
We also heard that Harbison wrote his quintet with the express intention of exploring new techniques for the wind instruments. He succeeded. It had lots of dissonances right from the start, with disjointed phrases. It was somewhat interesting but a little hard to listen to. And it had a slightly strange ending. The movement that followed was gentler and easier to listen to though still with a lot of dissonances. And another strange ending. The third was slow and rich—I got a feeling of water though I don’t exactly know why—followed by a section that was quite harsh. The fourth movement was quick with a lot of forward motion that didn’t really hold my attention while the fifth was calmer to begin with and then forged ahead with more rhythmic quickness. Overall, I did not find the piece particularly enjoyable. The players, however, gave it their all and seemed to enjoy it. And played both quintets very well.
ConcertMeister
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