Piano Quintets

[snyprrr]

The Lion of Chamber Music



SCHUMANN/BRAHMS (The Ubiquitous, The Obligatory)

Saint-Saens, Berwald, Arensky, Borodin, Dohnanyi, Suk, Novak, Fibich...(lots of Czechs!)...
Bartok, Webern, Sinding, Bridge, Bax, Reger, Toch, Pfitzner, Korngold, Schmidt...

RUBINSTEIN vs. FURTWANGLER

DVORAK NO.2*
MARTINU NO.2*

Castillon (personal favorite)

FRANCK/PIERNE
FAURE 1-2*
D'INDY

ELGAR

SCHMITT (the monster!)*
DUPONT
LeFLEM
HURE
WITKOWSKI (all of the above are long, Romantic/Virtuoso Workouts of the First Order)
ryelandt
hahn
juon

BLOCH NO.1 (the monster!)*
PISTON*
harris
finney

MEDTNER
SHOSTAKOVICH*
DENISOV*
schnittke
vainberg
b. tchaikovsky

NORDGREN
BADINGS
BACEWICZ 1-2*
GINASTERA
MILHAUD
MARTIN
IVES

HOVHANESS
HODDINOTT
M. WILLIAMSON
REIZENSTEIN
rawsthorne
leighton
HAUER
RIEGGER
ROZSA
RUBBRA
RUDHYAR
SORABJI

FELDMAN-Piano and String Quartet
WUORINEN
XENAKIS- Akea
HENZE
ades

My favs have to be Bloch No.1, Piston, Schmitt, DSCH, Faure, Denisov, Martinu No.2 and Dvorak No.2. When listening to the Bloch, I feel like there's just no where else to go (genre wise), this genre just being so supreme.

Is the PQ the "Lionking" of chamber music? Does anyone have any deep philosophical worship/insights? I'm just curious...I almost feel like I'm in the presence of supremity and am not worthy to speak on the subject.

EDIT March 15, 2011

PQs can certainly communicate everthing that needs to be said in music.

[Guido]

My personal favourites are Shostakovich's, the 2 Faurés, Elgar's, Korngold's, Piston's and Ives' pieces. The Ives pieces in the genre are all miniatures - Adagio Cantabile, In re con moto et al, Largo Risoluto No.1, Largo Risoluto No.2 - not as important as some of the other works here perhaps, but they are all absolute gems (an none are more than 4 minutes long). Must check out the Bloch...

[ChamberNut]

It must then mean lions are my favorite animals! 

The only thing for me that tops a string quartet.....is a Piano Quintet!  I wish there were many, many more of them. 

[Ric]

Piano quintet is also one of my favorite chamber musical ensemble. I'd like to post this recording.

[bwv 1080]

Carter

and you could probably include Mozart's piano quartets in the list

[Guido]

Piano quartets are a whole other thing - a lot more intimate in my opinion.

[ChamberNut]

Piano quartets are a whole other thing - a lot more intimate in my opinion.

I do greatly prefer Brahms' Piano Quartets to his Piano Quintet.

[71 dB]

Elgar's
Faure's both

0:)

Also Brahms, S. I. Taneyev, Shostakovich, Medtner,...

In general I think Piano Quintets (and Quartets) don't get the attention they deserve. Chamber music is too much centered to String Quartets. I'd like to explore more Piano Quintets but the lack of good inexpensive releases is a real problem. 

[Archaic Torso of Apollo]

There aren't really that many, at least compared to string quartets and piano trios. I get the impression that balancing the instruments correctly is inherently more difficult in this form, so it's only attempted by composers who are really skilled at that. Often, a P5tet winds up sounding like a miniature piano concerto rather than a chamber piece where all instruments are equal.

I like the usual suspects: Brahms (on & off, this has been my choice for greatest chamber piece ever written), Schumann, Dvorak, Elgar, Shostakovich.

More recently: Schnittke and both Martinus (with #2 edging #1). On the other hand, I found Carter's hopelessly dry (and I like a lot of Carter).

[val]

The piano Quintets of Brahms, Schumann, Fauré, Cesar Franck, Schmitt, Dvorak, are, in my opinion, the best ever composed.

Regarding other works, I would like to suggest the two piano Quintets of Dohnanyi, played by Martin Roscoe and the Vanbrugh Quartet, and the strange and tragic piano Quintet of Vierne, by Hubeau and the Viotti Quartet.

[Dax]

Leo Ornstein not mentioned yet.  Obviously it needs to be better known.

http://poonhill.com/MP3Files/S610%20-%20Piano%20Quintet%20Mvt%201.mp3

[Ric]

Leo Ornstein not mentioned yet.  Obviously it needs to be better known.

http://poonhill.com/MP3Files/S610%20-%20Piano%20Quintet%20Mvt%201.mp3

Oh, great music. Could you tell what recording is?

[ChamberNut]

I also love Samuel Coleridge-Taylor's Piano Quintet.

[Dax]

Oh, great music. Could you tell what recording is?

William Westney is the pianist. I should have made it clear that the recording is from the website devoted to Leo Ornstein.

http://poonhill.com/index.htm

There are many recordings here - and scores (including the Quintet).

[ChamberNut]

Forgot one, didn't we? 

Schubert's Piano Quintet Trout (although it isn't in the traditional Piano with String Quintet).  One violin replaced by a double bass.

[Lethevich]

There aren't really that many, at least compared to string quartets and piano trios. I get the impression that balancing the instruments correctly is inherently more difficult in this form, so it's only attempted by composers who are really skilled at that. Often, a P5tet winds up sounding like a miniature piano concerto rather than a chamber piece where all instruments are equal.

Hehe, this sums up Medtner's one to a tee - but it's lots of fun besides that. Almost symphonic sounding.

[snyprrr]

bump

[listener]

BOCCHERINI   opp. 56 & 57    6 each
    recording shown has op. 56/2 &3, op. 57/3&6    fortepiano used

and  (I don't have)
Amy BEACH
RESPIGHI  in f-   c.1902
MARTINU  no. "0"  (1911), no. 1 (1933)  no. 2 (1934)
HUMMEL  op. 87

the opus numbers for the MILHAUD:  op. 212,  DOHNANYI: op. 1 in c-, op 46 in e-flat -

[J]

I'm particularly interested in PQ's by French & Belgian composers.  The ones I have on CD are as follows:

Saint-Saens, Gouvy, Farrenc (2), Faure (2),  Hahn, Franck, Schmitt, Vierne, Widor (2), D'Indy, Koechlin,
Le Flem, Hure, Castillon, Pierne, Cras, Theo Ysaye, Henri Dupont, Witkowski, Biarent, Ryelandt, Meulemanns, Durosoir

Does anyone know of others?

[Gabriel]

Rejcha composed a piano quintet in C minor, which is magnificent. As the only recording that I know is HIP, I wish someone records it with modern instruments so to have an alternate version that could show other details! (In my opinion, it would work perfectly with modern instruments).