Product Description
As part of a campaign to enrich the woodwind quintet repertoire, Kaplan has arranged for woodwind quintet the six preludes and six fugues for string trio by Mozart, based on fugues, and some preludes, by J.S. and W.F. Bach, with the addition of four original preludes by Mozart. Around 1782 (as recounted by Mozart in a letter to his father), Mozart used to attend Sunday musicales at the home of Baron van Swieten, who required Bach and Handel to be played by all. Presumably it was to comply with the Baron's wishes that Mozart created these arrangements plus original preludes. The arranger surmises that Mozart's immersion in Bachian counterpoint influenced his own works, which increasingly featured interesting, elaborate, musically and emotionally exciting fugues such as those in the K.387 string quartet, the Jupiter Symphony, and the Requiem. Given Mozart's genius, it is not all surprising that the fugues he selected are all of great musical interest.
Note that in arranging string music for woodwinds, one often finds the English Horn better suited to the tessitura than the oboe. The main challenge is to share the string parts among the wind instruments in such a way as to permit the players to breathe. This the arranger has done, but welcomes feedback from players.
(For those who prefer to buy one prelude and fugue at a time, I am also making the six preludes and fugues available on this website individually, as six PDF downloads.)
This product was created by a member of ArrangeMe, Hal Leonard's global self-publishing community of independent composers, arrangers, and songwriters. ArrangeMe allows for the publication of unique arrangements of both popular titles and original compositions from a wide variety of voices and backgrounds.