Johann Friedrich Wilhelm Spindler, known to the world by the common diminutive of Friedrich as Fritz, (1817-1905) was born in the tiny German town of Wurzbach in Thuringia. He studied piano and composition with Friedrich Schneider in Dessau after which he moved to Dresden where he remained for the rest of his life. He was, during his lifetime, best known as a fine piano teacher, but he also devoted himself to composition and has more than 400 works to his credit. Most were for piano, several of which such as, The Butterfly, Charge of the Hussars, Convent Bells, Soldiers Advancing, Spinning Wheel and Woodland Rivulet to name but a few, enjoyed considerable popularity and are played by piano students even today. His transcriptions of operas for piano were also quite popular in their day. Besides his works for the piano, he composed a piano trio, a string quartet, this quintet for winds and piano, as well as some instrumental sonatas, two symphonies and a piano concerto.
The Quintet in F Major for Piano and Winds was dedicated to one of his students, the Russian Countess Daria de Beauharnais and dates from 1888. The opening movement is written on a large scale and begins with a lengthy slow introduction, Langsam, which eventually leads to the more lively main section, Lebhaft und munter. The very short second movement, Sehr leidenschaftlich und frei, is for the piano alone and serves as a cross between a cadenza and an introduction to the slow, funereal third movement, Sehr getragen und langsam. The finale, Mässig bewegt, doch frisch, is full of excitement with opportunities for all.