Opus number: 39
Title: Quintessence
Instrumentation: woodwind quintet: flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, French horn
Date written: 1993, Boston
Length: ten minutes
Commissioner and dedicatee: Martin Frank
Premiere performance: Ariel Woodwind Quintet: Clare Nielsen, flute, Emily Gaberman, oboe, Rebecca Leonard, clarinet, Jonathan MacGowan, bassoon, and Ellen Donohue-Saltman, horn,September 29, 1994, Jordan Hall, Boston
Important subsequent performances: St. Luke’s Chamber Ensemble: Elizabeth Mann, flute, Melanie Feld, oboe, William Blount, clarinet, Marc Goldberg, bassoon, William Purvis, French horn, March 26, 1997, Dia Center, New York City
Recording: tape of Ariel Quintet premiere performance at NEC Firestone library
Program notes:Quintessence consists of three movements: Prelude and Fugue, Double Variation, and Scherzo. The Prelude dramatizes each instrument as an individual and the Fugue emphasizes their similarity. In the second movement, Double Variation, there are two themes that each have the same harmony. The first theme is original. The second theme is called “Idumea” (pronounced I–doo´–ma) and is a nineteenth-century hymn whose first line of text is “And am I born to die?” The Scherzo is a jazzy finale with a trio that parodies the second movement’s Idumea melody. The work was completed in January of 1993 and was first introduced by the Ariel Quintet in Boston. Quintessence was commissioned by Dr. Martin Frank, a Pennsylvania cardiologist and amateur clarinetist.
Quintessence received its New York premiere by the St. Luke’s Chamber Orchestra Ensemble in March 1997.
