Review: A Houston wind quintet brings varied selections to Dallas

Even in chamber music circles, wind quintets — flute, oboe, clarinet, horn and bassoon — and their repertoire are much less well-known than string quartets and piano trios.

After the wind quintets of Antoine Reicha in the early 19th century, the genre fell out of favor. Twentieth-century composers including Carl Nielsen and Paul Hindemith made contributions, but these tended to be one-offs in their outputs. Wind quintet programs are often padded with arrangements of pieces for other ensembles.

WindSync, a Houston-based wind quintet, demonstrated the strengths of the idiom in a concert Monday at Southern Methodist University’s Caruth Auditorium. Presented by the Dallas Chamber Music Society, the group is made up of 30-somethings — flutist Garrett Hudson, oboist Emily Tsai, clarinetist Elias Rodriguez, hornist Anni Hochhalter and bassoonist Kara LaMoure — several of whom have ties to the Dallas area.

Formed at Rice University in 2009, the quintet takes its name from the ‘90s boy band ‘N Sync. Recently in residence at SMU, it drew many students to its concert, which was live streamed for virtual audiences.

Monday’s program mixed two 20th-century repertory staples with transcriptions of earlier works and a recent composition. With the exception of Samuel Barber’s Summer Music, everything was played from memory.

Commissioned by WindSync, Two Stepping, by 24-year-old Texas native Mason Bynes, unfolds in one movement over about 10 minutes. Tender reveries recall Copland, and syncopated episodes bustle with jazzy energies, even some foot stomps. Some counterpoint is inventive, but the main ideas grow repetitive over time, and the work ultimately didn’t leave much of an impression.

The evening’s highpoint was György Ligeti’s Six Bagatelles. Blending influences from Bartok and Stravinsky, these short pieces are full of wit and sophistication.

WindSync elegantly shaped lyrical melodies, easily navigated all the meter changes and brought out the jesting nature of the score. Animated sections had a crisp rhythmic profile.

Barber’s Summer Music features alternately languid and spirited moods, soaring tunes and colorful instrumental combinations. WindSync’s reading lacked the visceral impact and expressive unity as its other performances. Rhapsodic flourishes could have been freer, and dramatic moments called for greater weight.

Arranged by bassoonist LaMoure, a group of pieces by baroque composer Jean-Philippe Rameau conjured pastoral associations. Upper wind trills suggested bird calls and drones in the bassoon and horn evoked bagpipes in rustic dances.

Representing the classical era was Beethoven’s early String Quintet in E-flat Major, in an arrangement by Mordechai Rechtman.

As an encore, the group turned in a joyous account of American composer Valerie Coleman’s Umoja, which is Swahili for “unity.”

Apart from a few burbles, the musicians met technical challenges with aplomb. Dynamic contrasts were striking, ranging from intimate whisperings to exuberant fortissimos, occasionally overheated in the Beethoven. They also blended expertly, with individual parts clearly discernible in the textures.

Spoken commentary went on for too long and there was too much verbal filler. Also, the Hungarian name “György” is pronounced more like “Jerj” than “George-y.”