Piano Quintet (Hummel)

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The Piano Quintet in E-flat major, Op.87, is a composition by the Austrian composer Johann Nepomuk Hummel. Composed in 1802, it was not published until around 1822 and might have served as an example cited by Sylvester Paumgartner who commissioned Schubert to write his own piano quintet. [1]

Contents

Instrumentation

The piece is written for a then-common combination of instruments in a piano quintet; namely, the piano is joined by violin, viola, cello and double bass [2] (the double bass is replaced with another violin, much like a string quartet, in later piano quintets). Perhaps, along with Schubert's Trout Quintet, the two are the most famous pieces written for such a combination. Hummel later transcribed his septet for this combination of instruments as well.

Movements

The piece is written in four movements:

  1. Allegro e risoluto assai
  2. Minuet e trio: Allegro con fuoco
  3. Largo
  4. Finale: Allegro agitato

In almost all movements, it is the piano which takes a leading role and even goes as far as displaying virtuosic passages. Despite all that, the piece exhibits the congeniality of a piece of chamber music much like that of the music composed by Hummel's contemporary, Schubert. [1]

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Piano Quintet (Schumann)

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Piano Trio, Op. 11 (Beethoven)


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Octet (Mendelssohn)

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Felix Mendelssohn's Sextet in D major, Op. 110, MWV Q 16, for piano, violin, two violas, cello, and double bass was composed in April–May 1824, when Mendelssohn was only 15, the same time he was working on a comic opera Die Hochzeit des Camacho. Its composition took place between the Viola Sonata and the Piano Quartet No. 3. It also preceded the famous Octet, Op. 20 by about a year. 1824 is also the probable year of the composition of the Clarinet Sonata. Like the latter, the Sextet was not published during the composer's lifetime. Its first edition was issued in 1868 as a part of a complete collection of Mendelssohn's works. Hence the misleading high opus number.

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String Quintet No. 2 in G major, Op. 111, is a work by Johannes Brahms composed in 1890 and published in 1891. It is known as the Prater Quintet. Brahms intended it to be his last piece of music, though he later produced a number of piano pieces and the two sonatas for clarinet or viola and piano. The first performance of the Quintet in Vienna on November 11, 1890 was a sensation.

Concerto for Piano, Violin and Strings (Mendelssohn)

The Concerto for Piano, Violin, and Strings in D minor, MWV O4, also known as the Double Concerto in D minor, was written in 1823 by Felix Mendelssohn when he was 14 years old. This piece is Mendelssohn's fourth work for a solo instrument with orchestral accompaniment, preceded by a Largo and Allegro in D minor for Piano and Strings MWV O1, the Piano Concerto in A Minor MWV O2, and the Violin Concerto in D minor MWV O3. Mendelssohn composed the work to be performed for a private concert on May 25, 1823 at the Mendelssohn home in Berlin with his violin teacher and friend, Eduard Rietz. Following this private performance, Mendelssohn revised the scoring, adding winds and timpani and is possibly the first work in which Mendelssohn used winds and timpani in a large work. A public performance was given on July 3, 1823 at the Berlin Schauspielhaus. Like the A minor piano concerto (1822), it remained unpublished during Mendelssohn's lifetime and it wasn't until 1999 when a critical edition of the piece was available.

References

  1. 1 2 "Piano Quintet in E flat major, Op 87 (Hummel) - from CDH55427". Hyperion Records.
  2. "Piano Quintet, Op.87 (Hummel, Johann Nepomuk)". IMSLP.