Anton Reicha
Anton Reicha — also known as Antonín Rejcha — was born on 26 February 1770 in Prague and died on 28 May 1836 in Paris. His father, a baker, died before Anton's first birthday. In 1781, at the age of eleven, the boy moved to Wallerstein to live with his uncle Joseph Reicha, who, though childless himself, raised him as his own son.
Six Quintets, Op. 100, for Flute, Oboe, Clarinet, Horn and Bassoon
The six quintets, op. 100, were first published in 1820 by the Paris firm Zetter; in 1824 the Schott publishing house acquired the printing plates and issued the quintets under its own imprint. This Schott edition is the source for the present new edition. Reicha dedicated the six quintets "to his friend J. C. Bonjour". They were performed by the following Parisian musicians:
| Joseph Guillou (1787–1853) flute |
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Gustave Vogt (1781–1870) oboe |
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| Jacques-Jules Bouffil (1783–1868) clarinet |
Louis-François Dauprat (1781–1868) horn |
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| Monsieur Henry bassoon |
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Reicha's preface to the first edition of the quintets
For a long time now, string instruments alone have held the exclusive privilege of capturing listeners' attention in musical entertainment. Is it not regrettable that wind instruments — which come closest of all to the human voice — should be all but excluded from it? They have been reproached for lacking music that recommends itself through good composition as well as fine performance. Yet the progress of any instrument owes more to composers than to players: the masterworks of Haydn and Mozart, difficult as they at first were to perform, have since given string instruments the upper hand. We wish to do justice to the amateurs for whom these works were written; undeterred, they are now reaping the fruit of their efforts and their perseverance. By the same path we shall reach the same goal. To play these quintets well, each player must study their part carefully and rehearse together often, so as to grasp the composer's intention. Music meant to please through unified performance always presents a few difficulties that may at first be discouraging, but are easily overcome. Forte, mezzo-forte and, above all, piano must be strictly observed. The voice carrying the melody must be allowed to predominate and must never be covered. To achieve this degree of perfection, one must strive to render the indicated shadings, without which all music loses its interest. By careful attention to what has been said, one will be able to perform these quintets properly. This has also been our own endeavour. If teachers and lovers of wind instruments follow our example, they will encourage the author to enrich his collection further. Through perseverance they will overcome the reluctance that keeps composers from working in this field, spur a rivalry with the string instruments, and remove an imbalance whose principal cause we have indicated.