Nigel Keay - Divertimento for Wind Quintet (2022)

Full Score, PDF, 15 pages

Flute Part, PDF
Oboe Part, PDF
Clarinet in B-flat Part, PDF
Horn in F Part, PDF
Bassoon Part, PDF

The composition of my Divertimento for Wind Quintet was begun mid-November 2022. It is comprised of
four short movements each with its own unique character, the longest of which is only two minutes
duration.

Throughout the work the five instruments participate in a dialogue between soloists, through a
contrapuntal texture, where each individual line is expressed through a distinctive timbre. I wanted a
music where each voice was an indispensable part of the harmonic construction, evident to the players,
and that a minimum of two parts would give a feeling of support to the players.

Harmonically, the composition was approached with much freedom, juxtaposing consonance with
dicsonance and employing blue-notes which creates lines that are frequently chromatic. This is perhaps
the most advanced aspect of the writing.

On the musical nature of a divertimento, sometimes implying a lighter inspiration, the third movement,
Malinconico, is perhaps a nod to Bartók's Divertimento, with its dark and intense ambiance. Another nod
goes to Rachmaninov in using the term non-allegro (from his Symphonic Dances) for the tempo of the
fourth movement, with its constrained exuberance.

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