Since the 18th century, Paris and Prague have been famous for producing some of the greatest wind players of Europe. And in the 19th century, Anton Reicha, who was born in Prague but died in Paris, wrote for those wind players a sizeable body of quintets to showcase the agreeable blend of flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, and French horn performing as a consort of winds.

In our own time, the number of professional wind quintets has increased dramatically, with professional ensembles springing up in Europe and America. Not surprisingly, contemporary composers are to contribute new works for these contemporary ensembles.

On today’s date in 1987, at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall in New York, the Manhattan Wind Quintet premiered this new ensemble piece by the American composer David Maslanka—his Wind Quintet No. 2.

A clarinetist himself, Maslanka was particularly known for his works for wind ensembles, large and small. He described his three-movement Wind Quintet No. 2 as follows:

“The first movement is fierce and somewhat daunting in its technical demands; the second is moody and elusive; the third is sweet and resigned.”

This recording features the Bergen Woodwind Quintet of Norway, an ensemble that has taken Maslanka’s music very much to heart. They’ve recorded three of Maslanka’s Quintets for the BIS label from Sweden.