During the second half of the nineteenth century, a tradition of homogeneous horn ensembles developed within the horn classes of the Belgian conservatories. The Belgians would keep a particular attitude towards the genre, resulting in a considerable repertoire of specific compositions. The style of horn ensembles obviously developed parallel to the solo repertoire published in the first four volumes of this series, with a remarkable switch towards a lyrical style from the 1870s onwards. This translated into the writing of harmonically pleasant, colorful slow movements for horn quartet.