It’s a high wind alert on the next “Music from Marlboro.” Tune in for an hour of chamber music colored by winds.

Like many of his contemporaries, Franz Danzi had decidedly mixed feelings about the music of Beethoven. Beethoven may have only been six years Danzi’s junior, but he was a volatile force that felt no compunction about blowing over the fence posts of tradition.

Danzi, on the other hand, was a devout classicist. As a young musician in the famed Mannheim Orchestra, he was deeply impressed by a visit from Mozart, whose own music remained his ideal.

In addition to being a composer himself, Danzi was also a fine cellist (his father was the principal at Mannheim) and a reliable conductor. Danzi composed steadily, producing concertos, chamber music, and no less than 17 works for the stage. Much of his output has fallen into comparative neglect, with the notable exception of his woodwind quintets.

Be that as it may, it is Danzi’s Bassoon Quartet in B-flat major, Op. 40, No. 3, that we’ll hear. It was performed at the 1975 Marlboro Music Festival by bassoonist Milan Turkovic, violinist Young Uck Kim, violist Philipp Naegele, and cellist Alain Meunier.

Danzi’s reservations about him aside, it’s clear from Beethoven’s Quintet for Piano and Winds, Op. 16, that he too was an admirer of Mozart. The work is evidently modeled on Mozart’s earlier piece for the same instrumental combination. It’s even written in the same key (E-flat). In fact, I venture to guess, there’s little in the quintet, written when Beethoven was in his mid-20s, that would have made even Danzi squeamish.

We’ll hear it performed by pianist – and Marlboro cofounder – Rudolf Serkin, oboist Rudolf Vrbsky, clarinetist Richard Stoltzman, hornist Robert Routch, and bassoonist Alexander Heller, in a recording made in 1974.

Everyone knows it’s windy. Catch your breath for the next “Music from Marlboro,” this Wednesday evening at 6:00 EDT, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.

Marlboro School of Music and Festival: Official Page