Gounod, Petite symphonie pour vents

You likely know the French composer Charles Gounod (1818-1893) from his Ave Maria in which he superimposed a lyrical melody over Bach’s Prelude in C Major from the Well-Tempered Clavier (Book I). Among his operas, Faust (1859) and Romeo et Juliet (1867) receive frequent performances.

Gounod composed this little symphony for winds in 1885 at the behest of friend Paul Taffenel who had recently founded a chamber music society for wind instruments. In many ways, the work is in a line of serenades and divertimentos for winds popular in the 18th century, the most notable examples being those of Mozart. Winds ensembles were particularly apt for lighter forms and outdoor fare.

The wind ensemble of Mozart’s time had its roots in the Harmonien. Horace Fitzpatrick writes:

From about 1756 onward the Emperor [in Vienna] and the Austrian nobles kept house bands called Harmonien, usually made of pairs of oboes, horns, bassoons, and after about 1770, clarinets. These wind groups formed part of the household musical staff, and provided serenade for banquets and garden parties. Joseph II kept a crack Harmonie for his private delectation, drawn from the principal wind players of the Imperial opera. His successor Franz II carried on this practice.

The work takes this same instrumentation of eight parts and adds the flute in order to showcase the playing of Taffenel. It also follows the form of a classical symphony with four movements in a fast, slow, dance, fast pattern. The first movement with a Haydnesque slow introduction is in sonata form. A slow and lyrical second movement is followed by a scherzo with familiar hunting motifs (the horn announcement and compound rhythm) and traditional contrasting trio in the middle. And the work ends with fast movement, lighter in nature than the first. All pretty standard classical stuff. And this stands in some contrast to the prevailing winds of the Romantic era with ever-expanding orchestras and formal complexity.