Christoph Enzel

The Barber of Seville, Act II - Part I

Harmoniemusik - Music for Wind Instruments arranged for Saxophone Quartet in Four Volumes. Dating back to circa 1770, 'Harmoniemusik' - music for wind instruments -was originally conceived for wind orchestras. Scored for wood and brass instruments, it was mainly performed at open-air concerts and as 'Tafelmusik' (table music). The standard instrumentation used to include pairs of oboes, clarinets, horns and bassoons forming a wind octet; the ensemble was often complemented by additional bass instruments such as a double bassoon, a double bass or further wind instruments. Mostly, it was the composers themselves who arranged their works for wind instruments. This does not hold true for the original Barber of Seville 'Harmoniemusik'. It was written by the clarinetist Wenzel Sedlák. The version on hand takes up 'Harmoniemusik' tradition and transposes the magnificent melodies of this opera into a contemporary musical setting via saxophone quartet.