Title: Early Development of the Woodwind Ensemble
Headings: 
The Early Development of the Wind Quintet
Content: One of the reasons for this was that the wind instruments were technically highly-flawed and difficult  to control. With technical advances in instrument making, composers were able  to write more virtuosic passages as well as discontinue the practice of instrument doubling. The  first composer to write for a wind quintet was Franz Anton Rösler, better known as Francesco Antonio Rosetti (1750–1792). Rosetti was a Bohemian-Bavarian composer whose main compositional activity was from  1773 to 1789, after he renounced his vows as a secular priest. [ 4] He served Prince Kraft Enrst of Oetttingen-Wallerstein in Bavaria  during this time; his court had a large number of wind players in the orchestra. “ A  flood of symphonies, instrumental concertos, wind chamber music and sonatas give testimony to the beneficial effects of the  early years at Wallersein.” [ 5] Rosetti wrote twenty-six pieces for wind ensemble. Included in these works was Partita in E-flat, K.  2b:17, a work scored for flute, oboe, bassoon, clarinet, and English horn. Because  of the fact that the piece includes English horn instead of the traditional French horn, it is not a woodwind quintet by today’s  standards, but it is the first documented work to utilize a combination of five winds, specifically orchestrated in this manner.