Fernström's Wind Quintet, Opus 59, was written in 1943 and bears witness to his own description of his music at this time as generally tonal, classical in form, if eclectic in its attempt to provide a synthesis of contemporary styles. (...) Kvandal started writing his Wind Quintet, Opus 34, in Berlin, continuing it in Hamburg and completing it at home in Norway in 1971, when it was given its first performance in Oslo. The composer tells us that the work was written for the Oslo Wind Quintet, for a token payment of 25 bottles of red wine. (...) Nielsen's Wind Quintet, Opus 43, a more familiar work, was written in 1922. Here the composer demonstrates his practical acquaintance with the instruments for which he is writing. (Naxos.com)
