This week two contrasting nineteenth century piano quintets: a Brahms’ work that’s dark and turbulent and a Dvořák piece that’s mostly full of light and Czech dances.
Brahms started this piece in 1862 as a string quintet, it then – as things do – metamorphosed into a sonata for two pianos, only arriving at its final, piano quintet, version in 1864.
It’s a stormy, passionate work, with three of its four movements in the minor mode. It also follows the Schubert C major string quintet in seeking to establish novel key relationships.
Allegro non troppo
Andante un poco adagio
Scherzo : Allegro
Poco sostenuto – Allegro non troppo – Presto non troppo
The Dvořák quintet was written in 1887 and was his second essay in the medium – he was dissatisfied with the first, written fifteen years earlier. Three of this second quintet’s movements use Slavic folk forms: the alternating slow/fast of the Andante con moto dumka, the furiant (a Czech dance) of the scherzo and polka of the finale.
Allegro, ma non tanto
Dumka: Andante con moto
Scherzo (Furiant): Molto vivace – Poco tranquillo
Finale: Allegro
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Iaago
The Art of Listening 