Hedwige Chrétien (July 15 - 1859 - 1944) was a French composer, and not a great deal is known about her.  She studied at the Paris Conservatory with Ernest Guiraud starting in 1874, and became a professor there in 1889. While she was a student, she won several awards for piano, counterpoint, harmony, and fugue, and she would go on to write around 150 compositions, of various genres.  Chrétien's Wind Quintet is for the standard wind quintet instrumentation; flute, oboe, clarinet, horn, and bassoon, and is divided in to two movements.

The first movement, Andante, starts out with octaves preceded by a grace note, and oboe plays the main scale-like melody, which gets repeated by flute, and then also by the other instruments, though in the major key, instead of the original minor. The main theme in the major key is charming and whimsical.

The second movement is energetic and upbeat.  Starting with pulsating eighth notes, the clarinet has the melody first, and then passes it along to everyone else at some point. It's cheerful and joyous, and the syncopation in it gives it further movement and excitement. It's a delightful work to hear!

We couldn't find a recording of this wonderful work, but we hope that changes soon!