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Magnus Lindberg regards as his Opus 1 the Quintetto dell'estate (Summer Quintet), completed in Siena, Italy, in 1979. The work is scored for Pierrot line-up: flute, clarinet, violin, cello and piano. In connection with this work Lindberg has spoken at length of Sibelius' 7th Symphony, from which he has found the same kind of interesting features, bearing on the compositions of today, as have certain of the younger generation of French composers, such as Tristan Murail.Quintetto dell'estate is energetic, virtuoso music, which in a compositional sense ib built up of five puzzle-pieces - small musical ideas with all their relevant parameters defined - which are set up in different relationships with each other. In characteristic Lindberg fashion each instrument has its own cadenza, and the overall form is shaped of short passages, the climaxes of which is arranged such that each instrument marks time repeating its own rhythm, and gradually notes disappear from each rhythmic figure, until the situation reaches its simplest possible form. The intensity is raised not by stepping up the degrees of complexity, but rather by its elimination. This feature can be found, given different treatments, in several of Lindberg's works.The cadenza passages in the Quintetto also subtly exhibit Lindberg's use of open form principles. Four different possible arrangements are offered for combining the cadenzas and interludes, with the performers at liberty to choose whichever they prefer.© Risto Nieminen(Chester Music Ltd.)The Quintetto dell’estate composed by Magnus Lindberg (b. 1958) in Siena in 1979 is a typical product of the Korvat auki era: a post-serial attempt to construct music from ‘motifs’ or ‘basic models’, i.e. from events and situations defined according to different parameters. In the middle section these situations are divided up into five tutti sections and four solos, the order of which can to some extent be determined by the players (the ‘ambiguous form’ of Stockhausen). But in the last section in particular the flute, clarinet and piano trio appear as a single instrument, thereby pointing the way to Lindberg’s later conception of hie music as surfaces and masses. The source of inspiration for the ‘summer quintet’ was, Lindberg says, Sibelius’s 7th symphony: “Following his example, I developed the drama and characteristics of my own quintet by regulating the continuity while at the same time striving towards constant variation of the impulses and constellations themselves. Sibelius spoke of a domino idea — maybe I should speak of a puzzle, of combining pieces of different shapes and sizes to form a picture.”© Mikko Heiniö, 1990(translated by © Susan Sinisalo)La pièce pour la formation de Pierrot lunaire, dont le titre originel suédois était Kvintett, est née pendant l'été 1979 en Italie, a Sienne, où Lindberg participait au cours de composition de Franco Donatoni : d'où le titre Quintette de l'été. Le matériau vient d'un projet inachevé pour voix de femme, où Lindberg tentait d'écrire une mélodie. Lors de la création au festival des jeunes compositeurs nordiques à Helsinki, Lindberg écrivait: «L'oeuvre représente dans ma production la réalisation la plus claire d'utilisation des "modèles musicaux de base". Avec "modèles de base" j'entends événements, dont les qualités sont strictement définies pour chaque paramètre. Ces modèles de base sont utilisés de deux manières différentes : en les associant les uns avec les autres tels quels, et en changeant graduellement leurs qualités. La combinaison simultanée de ces deux modèles a créé des situations dramatiques intenses.»Quintetto dell'estate est une des rares pièces de jeunesse de Lindberg qu'on entend encore en concert, tant elle est pleine d'énergie juvénile et d'inventions. S'il donnait des opus à ses oeuvres, ce quintette serait son opus 1 : avec cette pièce, il a trouvé comment penser la musique par gestes, un aspect stylistique qu'on retrouve jusqu'à ce jour dans sa musique.© Risto Nieminen, 1993© Ircam - Centre Georges-Pompidou, 1993(From Magnus Lindberg, Ircam 1993)Quintetto dell’estate (für die Pierrot lunaire Besetzung) wurde im Sommer 1979 in Siena (Italien) konzipiert, wo Lindberg an Franco Donatoni’s Kompositionskurs teilnahm: daher der Titel “Sommerquintett”. Das musikalische Material kam von einem unvollendeten Projekt für Frauenstimme. Für die Uraufführung auf einem Festival von jungen nordischen Komponisten in Helsinki 1980 schrieb Lindberg: “Das Stück ist das klarste Beispiel unter allen Stücken, die ich bislang geschrieben habe, für die Verwendung von musikalischen ‘Urmodellen’. Mit ,’Urmodell’ meine ich Ereignisse, deren Charakteristika streng für jeden Parameter definiert sind. Diese Urmodelle werden auf zwei verschiedene Weisen verwendet: indem man sie unverändert zusammenstellt und durch die allmähliche Veränderung ihrer Eigenschaften. Die gleichzeitige Kombination dieser zwei Verfahrensweisen resultiert in intensiv dramatischen Situationen.” Quintetto dell’estate ist eins derwenigen frühen Stücke Lindbergs, das immer noch in Konzerten zu hören ist – es protzt mit Invention und jugendlicher Energie. Wenn er seinen Werken Opusnummern verleihen würde, wäre dies sein Opus 1. Mit diesem Stück entdeckte er, Musik als Gestus aufzufassen – eine Eigenschaft, die seine Musik heute noch prägt.(writer unknown)(Essen, September 1998)

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Abbreviation	Instrument
Woodwind
acl	alto clarinet
afl	alto flute
arec	alto recorder
asax	alto saxophone
barsax	baritone saxophone
barhn	baritone horn
bcl	bass clarinet
bfl	bass flute
bob	bass oboe
bsax	bass saxophone
bsn	bassoon
cbsn	contrabassoon
cl	clarinet
ehn	English horn
fl	flute
hn	French horn
ob	oboe
pic	piccolo
rec	recorder
sax	saxophone
srec	soprano recorder
ssax	soprano saxophone
trec	tenor recorder
tsax	tenor saxophone
Brass
ahn	alto horn
atrb	altotrombone
barhn	baritone horn
btrb	bass trombone
cornet	cornet
euph	euphonium
fhn	flugelhorn
hn	French horn
tba	tuuba
thn	tenor horn
trb	trombone
trp	trumpet
Percussion
dr	drums
glock	glockenspiel
mar	marimba
perc	percussion
timp	timpani
vibr	vibraphone
xyl	xylophone
Strings
db	double bass
gamba	viola da gamba
str	strings
vla	viola
vlc	cello
vln	violin
Other
acc	accordion
cel	celesta
cemb	harpsichord
chords	chords
elbas	electric bass
elg	electric guitar
elorg	electric organ
elpno	electric piano
guit	guitar
harm	harmonium
hca	harmonica
hp	harp
instr	instrument
kantele	kantele
keyb	keyboard
live electr	live electronics
mand	mandolin
mel	melody
org	organ
pno	piano
synth	synthesizer
tape	tape
Vocal
alto	alto
baryt	baritone
basso	bass voice
ch	choir
chc	childrens choir
chf	female choir
chm	male choir
chx	mixed choir
cten	countertenor
mezzo	mezzo-soprano
sopr	soprano
speaker	speaker
ten	tenor
voc	vocal

Symphony orchestra
2222 4331 11 1, str = 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 French horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, one other percussionist, harp and strings
Wind band
2252 3 423 21212 3 = 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 5 clarinets, 2 bassoons - 3 saxophones - 4 French horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones - 2 cornets, alto horn, 2 tenor horns, baritone horn, 2 tubas - 3 percussionists
Big band
221 4 4, pno, guit, db, dr = 2 alto saxophones, 2 tenor saxophones, baritone saxophone, 4 trumpets, 4 trombones, piano, guitar, double bass, drums
Additional codes
+	fl+pic = flutist doubles on piccolo
/	pno/org = can be played on either piano or organ
lib	ad libitum
obl	obligato
str	str: 65432 = specified number of string players
str min	str min: 65432 = at least 65432
str max	str max: 65432 = not more than 65432
solo	vln solo = violin is the solo instrument in a work not obviously for solo violin