New Sounds for Old Winds # 3

The finale of the New Sounds for Old Winds series is a celebration of the Viennese wind octet. The Emperor Josef II’s ‘kaiserlich–königlich’ or k. k. Harmonie was made up of the eight exceptional wind players who played in the orchestra at Vienna’s Burgtheater. It is often credited with driving the ‘boom’ in Harmoniemusik around the turn of the 19th century, and was certainly imitated by other nobles in courts where Josef’s influence was felt. 

Much of the k. k. Harmonie’s repertoire was created by second oboist Johann Wendt. This concert includes Wendt’s own charming Parthia in Eb for wind octet as well as his arrangement of the overture to Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro. Wendt and his colleagues played in the premiere of the opera at the Burgtheater in 1786, it is fascinating to hear the freedom with which he adapts Mozart’s textures.

A new edition of Hummel’s Octet-Partita in Eb completes the evening. Hummel’s tuneful work, completed in Vienna in 1803, is a late example of a ‘true’ octet without an obbligato double bass or contrabassoon part. It is heard here in a new edition based on rediscovered parts, which give far more detailed performance markings than the previously-available sources.

Check out our Series Pass options that give you access to all three concerts! https://www.onjam.tv/boxwood-and-brass/series/new-sounds-for-old-winds 

New Sounds for Old Winds is kindly supported by Continuo Foundation