Quintet No. 1, Op. 5 in Bb minor (ca. 1890)
Viktor Ewald (1860-1935)
I. Moderato
II. Adagio non troppo lento
III. Allegro moderato

Viktor Ewald was a Russian composer of music, mainly for conical brass instruments. He was born in Saint Petersburg and died in Leningrad. Ewald was a professor of Civil Engineering in St. Petersburg, and was also the cellist with the Beliaeff Quartet, the most influential ensemble in St. Petersburg in the late 19th century. He also collected and published Russian folk songs. He excelled as a civil engineer, and was appointed as professor and manager of the Faculty of Construction Materials at the Institute of Civil Engineers (ICE) in 1900. His obituary mentions his profound influence on the history of the production of construction materials.

Brass players, however, are indebted to him for a series of quintets which have become staples of the modern repertoire and which represent the most extended examples of original brass music in the Romantic style. For many years, Ewald’s four quintets were considered to be the first original compositions specifically for the modern brass quintet, even though the combination of instruments was slightly different: two piston-valved cornets, a rotary-valved alto horn, a rotary-valved tenor horn, and a rotary-valved tuba. There is no documented evidence of exactly for whom Ewald composed his quintets, but since he was very active in his community as a performer, one can surmise that there must have been a group of advanced brass players as well. Ewald himself apparently played the tuba.

Ewald’s first quintet was composed ca. 1890. It is cast in three movements. The first movement is the most substantial, composed in sonata form with two clear themes and a development section. The second movement begins with a beautiful Adagio, contrasted by a very aggressive Presto section, finally returning to the Adagio. The effect is a dramatic ABA which combines a slow movement with a scherzo, normally separate movements in large-scale works. The uplifting finale brings the work to a triumphant end.

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