The Vienna Harmoniemusik

It was Emperor Joseph II in 1782 that founded his Imperial Wind Ensemble, comprising pairs of horns, bassoons, clarinets and oboes. This type of chamber music was titled 'Harmoniemusik', although there is no distinct difference between this and the wind sextet, which had existed for a long time previously; Haydn had composed many works for wind sextet. The strings were the dominant force in the orchestra, with the wind instruments used to provide harmonic support and colour contrast, replacing the keyboard in this harmonic-support role, hence the term Harmoniemusik. This type of music was solely composed or arranged as background entertainment for dinners, garden fêtes, hunting parties and military occasions. Harmoniemusik was a great influence on the development of the symphony orchestra, and composers such as Mozart and Beethoven were keen to further utilise the colour provided by the wind instruments in their compositions.

Mozart - Serenade Gran Partita

I briefly looked at this piece earlier in the course, so this time round I selected two different movements - the first and fifth. The first movement has an easily identifiable main motive in the form of two rising minims followed by two descending staccato crotchets, with the first crotchet usually ornamented with a grace note. I loved how such a simple small idea can be the basis for an entire movement. The fifth movement proved a good showcase for the wind instruments' versatility, with its jaunty allegretto sandwiched in between the slow outer sections. What I found surprising is the ability of the wind ensemble to pull off such a full-sounding texture, with the combination of instruments able to cover the entire sound range in a convincing way; you often forget you are listening to only wind instruments.

Krommer - Partita in E Flat Op.45 No.1

I had not listened to any of Krommer's music before, so I was looking forward to the prospect, choosing the listen to the outer movements of this piece. I usually strive to follow along with the sheet music but was unable to find a free copy of the score. The opening allegro moderato really portrayed how nimble and agile the woodwind instruments can be, the clarinet especially.  I could clearly hear the tonic/dominant accompaniment played by what sounded like the bassoon, with lyrical melodies on the top of the texture played by oboe and clarinet. The fourth Rondo movement features a strong three-note repeated motive which came back frequently, alternating with the digression sections as per rondo form. The digressions formed a nice contrast with the relatively simple 'A' section in the piece. There were some exciting moments from the horns that sounded almost trill-like in their accompaniment, but without the score I couldn't identify exactly what they were doing. This quick note-play from the horns underneath the simple main theme was a welcome surprise however, and created some variation from the opening version. When the 'A' section returned again there were further alterations, so that it was still recognisably the main theme, but the variation generated interest.

Mozart - Harmoniemusik zu Le Nozze Di Figaro

According to the course material, and my further research, it appears that arrangements of ballets and operas for wind ensemble were extremely popular. New pieces for Harmoniemusik were composed, but perhaps to satisfy the huge demand for material for this new type of wind octet, a large body of music from existing works was arranged.
I haven't yet seen The Marriage of Figaro (I might choose it for the exercise in part four!) but I did recognise a couple of the pieces in this arrangement, namely the overture and Sull'aria...che soave zeffiretto. Both pieces worked well as wind arrangments, but particularly the duettino due to its very lyrical character; the oboe, with a timbre close to the human voice mimics the soprano very well. As mentioned, the overture also works well, but I think the opening lacks the punch of the original version due to the absence of the timpani, and powerful strings.


My Response

The concept of Harmoniemusik was new to me, and it has certainly piqued my interest in music for wind ensemble. The winds are an incredibly colourful group of instruments, and music featuring this type of ensemble contains a lot of variety and interest. Harmoniemusik can also fulfill the majority of roles usually played by the orchestra, the only standout problem I came across being that of no dynamic 'punch'. This is of no consequence however when you consider the original use of Harmoniemusik; that of background music to other activities.