Preludes and Fugues (arr. for Wind Quintet)

"Listening pleasure from the first to the last second, musical perfection in every phrase!" (FonoForum). Already more than once the Calefax Reed Quintet has astonished the music world with its interpretation of a compositional cycle of intricate design. After Bach's The Art of Fugue it is now Dimitri Shostakovich's turn, and the Dutch wind masters breathe new life into his compositional legacy with their inimitable sense of sound.

The Calefax reed quintet combines a virtually unique setting with a stylistic versatility. Taking advantage of the absence of a prescribed repertoire, Calefax moves with remarkable ease through music literature. In their well-crafted arrangements the five wind players demonstrate their stylish interpretations of renaissance, classical, and romantic up to contemporary music. Calefax has in fact »created a chamber music genre of its own« (De Volkskrant), worthy represented by the Quintet itself. The Dutch press praised the fine ensemble playing, their musicality and virtuosity and their wilfull programming. Calefax was founded in 1985 and appeared in Benelux, Poland, Germany and France on chamber music stages and has been invited by specialised contemporary and old music festivals. The musicians played in a movie and made several recordings for radio and cd. The German Musikproduktion Dabringhaus & Grimm now issues a complete Calefax-CD-collection. In March 1997 Calefax was awarded the Dutch Philip Morris Award.