The Most Beautiful Song in the World (score & parts) - WW5

The Most Beautiful Song in the World
for woodwind quintet
by David Del Tredici (b. 1937) - American composer

For the Dorain Wind Quintet, first performed on January 18th, 2012 in New York City. 

From the composer:

One evening, after rehearsal, I asked the member of the Dorian Wind Quintet this: What piece of music would they most wish had been written for woodwind quintet. They went round and round with the possibilities before settling on the general area of a song by Schubert, the supreme melodist. It may have been I who said, "What about An die Musik". This is a song so revered that many aging singers (or yore) would include it in the their farewell recitals as their swan song ( I remember Lotte Lehmann's), the one by which they would be remembered. As a surprise gift of friendship, I made what I call a fantasy transcription of An die Musik for woodwind quintet. I added both an introduction and a postlude, the latter developing the song in a startling ways. In the second verse, I make the melody the beginning of a canon played in part by French horn, with the flute and oboe in close pursuit, while the clarinet and bassoon burble a quiet background.