The brothers Mengal have often been mistaken for one another. There is Martin-Joseph Mengal (1784 - 1851) and his younger brother Jean Mengal ( 1796 - 1878). Both have been famous horn players. If you want to know more about Joseph Mengal click  here . His brother Jean was taught by the Parisian horn player Domnich. He and his brother won the first prize at the Conservatoire (Jean 1814, Martin 1809). Jean had been the first horn player at the opera house in Paris and composed for his instrument. Sometimes compositions get mixed between the brothers. These quintet, edited by Robert Ostermeyer, are certainly composed by Martin-Joseph Mengal.

In 1824 the publishing house Pleyel in Paris printed three quintets for wood wind quintet, composed by Mengal after melodies of Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven. This quintet, however, does not belong to that collection. The manuscript is kept by the library of the Conservatorium Gent (signature GC.II 11861). The title says: “1me Quintetto de Rossini” and refers to the print of Pleyel. The music seems to be composed before 1820, because it works the themes of the opera “The Barbier of Sevilla” by Rossini. This opera was first performed in 1819.

It is not know, why this work was not published anytimes. We could suggest that this quintet did not fit to the structure of the other three quintets, printed by Pleyel, because those have got 4 movements and are quite longer.

Our first edition also contains in addition to the original c-part for the clarinet the bflat-part.