A wind quintet, also called a woodwind quintet, is a group of five musicians who play wind instruments. The most common instruments are flute, oboe, clarinet, French horn, and bassoon.

Unlike a string quartet, which has four string instruments that create similar sounds, the instruments in a wind quintet are very different from each other in how they are played, the types of music they perform, and the sounds they make. The modern wind quintet developed from an octet (a group of eight musicians) that was popular in the court of Joseph II in late 18th century Vienna. This group included two oboes, two clarinets, two natural horns, and two bassoons. The music written by Haydn for small groups inspired composers to explore similar ideas for wind instruments. Improvements in making these instruments during that time made them better suited for small ensembles, encouraging composers to try smaller group combinations.

Anton Reicha’s twenty-four quintets, started in 1811, and Franz Danzi’s nine quintets helped establish the wind quintet as a musical form. Their works are still widely performed today. Although interest in the form decreased in the second half of the 19th century, composers in the 20th century revived it. Today, the wind quintet is a standard chamber ensemble, valued for its ability to play many different types of music and produce a wide range of sounds.

Notable wind quintet composers

• Antonio Rosetti (about 1750–1792): One quintet for flute, oboe, English horn, clarinet, and bassoon
• Johann Georg Albrechtsberger (1736–1809): One quintet for two oboes, clarinet, natural horn, and bassoon
• Giuseppe Cambini (1746–1825): Three quintets
• Franz Danzi (1763–1826): Nine quintets
• Johann Georg Lickl (1769–1843): One quintet
• Anton Reicha (1770–1836): Twenty-four quintets, and some separate movements
• George Onslow (1784–1853): One quintet, op. 81
• Giulio Briccialdi (1818–1881): Three quintets
• Paul Taffanel (1844–1908): One quintet
• August Klughardt (1847–1902): One quintet
• Guy Ropartz (1864–1955): One quintet
• Carl Nielsen (1865–1931): One quintet
• Gustav Holst (1874–1934): One quintet
• Heinrich Kaspar Schmid (1874–1953): One quintet
• Arnold Schoenberg (1874–1951): One quintet
• Theodor Blumer (1881–1964): Four quintets
• Percy Grainger (1882–1961): Two quintets
• Wallingford Riegger (1885–1961): One quintet
• Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887–1959): One quintet
• Jacques Ibert (1890–1962): One quintet
• Hendrik Andriessen (1892–1981): One quintet
• Darius Milhaud (1892–1974): One quintet
• Walter Piston (1894–1976): One quintet
• Paul Hindemith (1895–1963): One quintet
• Roberto Gerhard (1896–1970): One quintet
• Carlos Chávez (1899–1978): One quintet
• Ernst Krenek (1900–1991): Two quintets
• Ruth Crawford-Seeger (1901–1953): One quintet
• Claude Arrieu (1903–1990): One quintet
• Ferenc Farkas (1905–2000): One quintet
• Mátyás Seiber (1905–1960): One quintet
• Jaroslav Ježek (1906–1942): One quintet
• Alec Wilder (1907–1980): Twelve quintets
• Otto Mortensen (1907–1986): One quintet
• György Ránki (1907–1992): One quintet
• Elliott Carter (1908–2012): Two quintets
• Vagn Holmboe (1909–1996): One quintet
• Ljubica Maric (1909–2003): One quintet
• Samuel Barber (1910–1981): One quintet
• Josef Tal (1910–2008): One quintet
• Jean Françaix (1912–1997): Two quintets
• Ingolf Dahl (1912–1970): One quintet
• Alvin Etler (1913–1973): Two quintets, a concerto for quintet and orchestra, and a concerto for violin and wind quintet
• Vivian Fine (1913–2000): One quintet
• Irving Fine (1914–1962): Two quintets
• George Perle (1915–2009): Four quintets
• Vincent Persichetti (1915–1987): Two quintets
• Dinu Lipatti (1917–1950): One quintet, and one work for narrator and quintet
• Osvaldo Coluccino (born 1963): One quintet
• Ananda Sukarlan (born 1968): One piece for piano and wind quintet
• Shai Cohen (born 1968): "STYX V+1" for wind quintet and vibraphone
• James Francis Brown (born 1969): One quintet
• Valerie Coleman (born 1970):
• Robert Paterson (born 1970): One quintet
• Emily Doolittle (born 1972): One quintet, and one work for narrator and quintet
• Yalil Guerra (born 1973, Cuba): One quintet titled "Las Musas de San Alejandro"
• Cris Derksen (born 1981): One quintet
• Sean Friar (born 1985): One quintet
• Mohammed Fairouz (born 1985): One quintet
• Michael Gilbertson (born 1987): Concerto for quintet with orchestra
• Gabriel Vicéns (born 1988): One quintet
• Alex Weiser (born 1989): One quintet
• Robin Holloway (born 1943): "Nursery Rhymes" (Divertimento No. 3) op. 33a (1977) for soprano and wind quintet, and "Five Temperaments" for wind quintet op. 105
• John Zorn (born 1953): One quintet
• Nigel Keay (born 1955): One quintet

Notable wind quintet repertoire

• Andriessen, Jurriaan, Sciarada Spagnuola [Spanish Charade] (1963)
• Arnold, Malcolm, Three Shanties, Op. 4 (1943)
• Bach, Jan, Skizzen, Highgate Press [Sketches, Highgate Press] (1983)
• Barber, Samuel, Summer Music, Op. 31 (1955)
• Baur, Jürg, Quintetto Sereno [Serene Quintet] (1957–58)
• Beaser, Robert, Shadow and Light (1981)
• Bennett, Richard R., Concerto for Woodwind Quintet
• Berio, Luciano, Ricorrenze (1987); Wind Quintet (1948); Wind Quintet (1950); Opus Number Zoo (arranged in 1951 for wind quintet, based on the 1950 original for two clarinets and two horns)
• Birtwistle, Harrison, Refrains and Choruses (1957); Five Distances (1992)
• Bloch, Waldemar, Serenade (1966)
• Blumer, Theodor, Serenade, Theme and Variations
• Bobescu, Constantin, Parafrază pe motivul "Horei Staccato" (1958)
• Bois, Rob du, Chants et contrepoints (1962); Réflexions sur le jour où Pérotin le Grand ressuscitera (1969)
• Bottje, Will Gay, Diversions, for quintet, narrator, and piano (1967)
• Schulze, Werner, Explosioni
• Reicha, Anton, Twenty-four Wind Quintets, Opp. 88, 91, 99, and 100 (1810–20)
• Ránki, György, Pentaerophonia
• Rosowsky, Solomon, "Moshe der Shuster" (Moshe the Cobbler) (1917); "Nigun ohne a Sof" (Melody without an End) (1917)
• Schoenberg, Arnold, Bläserquintett [Wind Quintet], Op. 26 (1923–24)
• Seiber, Mátyás, Permutazioni a Cinque for wind quintet (1958)
• Stockhausen, Karlheinz, Zeitmaße [Time-measures], for flute, oboe, English horn, clarinet, and bassoon (1955–56); Adieu, for Wolfgang Sebastian Meyer (1966); Rotary Wind Quintet (1997)
• Sukarlan, Ananda, "Mozart Meandering through Java before Bumping into Beethoven in Boston" for piano and wind quintet (written for the Boston Symphony Orchestra winds); five individual pieces for each wind instrument with piano, based on Ovid’s "Metamorphosis" (written for Boston Symphony Orchestra members)
• Susman, William, Six Minutes Thirty Seconds (1995)
• Taffanel, Paul, Quintet for Wind Instruments
• Tal, Josef, Wind Quintet (1966)
• Thuille, Ludwig, Sextet for Wind Instruments and Piano
• Tomasi, Henri, Cinq Danses [Five Dances]
• Villa-Lobos, Heitor, Quinteto (em forma de chôros) [Quintet in the Form of a Chôros], for flute, oboe, English horn, clarinet, and bassoon (1928; arranged for conventional quintet in 1951)
• Weiser, Alex, Wind (2013)
• Wuorinen, Charles, Wind Quintet (1977)
• Yurina, Ludmila, Geometricum (1993)

(Note: Some entries were condensed for clarity while preserving all original details, such as arrangements, revisions, and specific instrumentation.)

Notable wind quintets

List of Musical Ensembles
• Artecombo
• Bergen Woodwind Quintet
• Cracow Golden Quintet [ pl ]
• Danzi Quintet
• Dorian Wind Quintet
• Farkas Quintet Amsterdam [ nl ]
• Imani Winds
• LutosAir Quintet [ pl ]
• New London Chamber Ensemble
• New York Woodwind Quintet
• Philharmonisches Bläserquintett Berlin [ de ]
• Quintet of the Americas
• Soni Ventorum Wind Quintet
• Vancouver Woodwind Quintet
• Vento Chiaro