The first¦question is why transcribe a work such as Mozart's String Quartet KV 387, which is so perfectly rendered in the original, for another instrumental ensemble?¦The only answer for wind players is to have the opportunity to play and learn¦from this great work directly. Mozart¦loved the wind instruments, but wrote for them rather differently than for the¦strings. Of course, it is much easier for the strings to produce a seamless,¦blended sound. The winds, which all produce sound differently, will have to¦work hard for this, particularly in the first and third movements of KV387. In¦the second movement, with its strange sudden dynamic changes highlighting¦individual voices, and in the fourth movement, with its brilliant contrapuntal¦writing (a fourth movement of the Jupiter Symphony in miniature), the winds can contribute more color and individuality.
