Music for Nine Winds

Even when undeniable beauties are taken into account, wind chamber music is in the shadow of chamber music for strings in terms of audience appeal - with very few exceptions. The recording of the Atéa Quintet impressively illustrates the possibilities that arise from a pure wind instrumentation. Expanded to a nonet, the British let us discover a true jewel of this genre with the Concerto for Flute and Eight Winds by the English late romantic William Alwyn. No less worth listening to is Quentin Pole's extremely successful arrangement of Mozart's Sonata for Piano for Four Hands KV 497. The Atéa Quintet is the foremost British Wind Quintet of their generation. Internationally acclaimed, they became double prize winners at the 2015 Carl Nielsen International Chamber Music Competition in Denmark. As the Associate Ensemble in Residence at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire and former Quintet in Residence at the Purcell School, they mentor some of the finest up and coming musicians in the country.