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A piano quintet is a chamber musical ensemble made up of one piano and four other instruments, or the name of a piece written for such a group.The most common grouping is one piano, two violins, a viola and a cello--that is, a piano with a string quartet. This combination of instruments is so prevalent in classical music, that when the phrase piano quintet is used with no qualifications, it usually refers to this particular group.
Several composers have written piano quintets, although few have written more than one, a rare exception being Gabriel Fauré, who wrote two. Other composers to have written for the usual grouping of a string quartet plus piano include Robert Schumann, Johannes Brahms, Antonin Dvorak (who also wrote more than one, though only one is played with any regularity) and Dmitri Shostakovich. Franz Schubert's famous Trout quintet is written for the less usual combination of piano, violin, viola, cello and double bass.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van BeethovenLudwig van Beethoven (baptized December 17, 1770 d. March 26, 1827) was a German composer, the predominant musical figure in the transitional period between the Classical and Romantic eras. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest composers of all tim both wrote pieces for a piano and four wind instrumentA wind instrument consists of a tube containing a column of air which is set into vibration by the player blowing into (or over) a mouthpiece set into the end of the tube. The pitch is determined by the length of the tube and hence the length of the vibras ( oboeThe Oboe is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. It is a descendant of the shawm. The word "oboe" is derived from the French word hautbois meaning "high woods". It so-named because of the instrument's rather high and reedy sound. A musician who pl, clarinetThe clarinet (sometimes historically spelled clarionet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. A person who plays the clarinet is called a clarinettist. Professional clarinets are made from African hardwood, often grenadilla or (rarely) Honduran r, French horn and bassoonThe bassoon is the tenor member of the woodwind family. Like the oboe it has a double reed and overblows an octave higher. It is considered to have a tone color similar to that of the human voice, particularly in the central and upper register. The bassoo in both cases). Although these pieces could be called piano quintets, they are more often referred to as "quintets for piano and wind" so as to distinguish them from pieces with the more usual instrumentation.
List of works
The following is a partial list of piano quintets by famous composers. All works are for piano and string quartet unless otherwise noted.
- Ludwig van BeethovenLudwig van Beethoven (baptized December 17, 1770 d. March 26, 1827) was a German composer, the predominant musical figure in the transitional period between the Classical and Romantic eras. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest composers of all tim
- Piano Quintet (for piano, oboe, clarinet, horn and bassoon; 1796)
- Johannes Brahms
- Piano QuintetThe Piano Quintet in F minor, opus 34, by Johannes Brahms was completed in 1864. Like most piano quintets, it is written for piano and string quartet (two violins, viola and cello). The piece is in four movements: Allegro non troppo Andante, un poco adagi (1864)
- Antonin Dvorak
- Piano Quintet No. 1 (1875)
- Piano Quintet No. 2 (1889)
- Edward Elgar
- Gabriel Fauré
- Piano Quintet No. 1 (completed 1905)
- Piano Quintet No. 2 (completed 1921)
- César Franck
- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
- Piano Quintet , K. 452 (for piano, oboe, clarinet, horn and bassoon; 1784)
- Alfred Schnittke
- Franz Schubert
- Trout Quintet (for piano, violin, viola, cello and double bass; 1819)
- Robert Schumann
- Dmitri Shostakovich
Musical groups
