Composing is, perforce, a fairly geographically static activity; composers (unless of course they’re also virtuoso performers), unlike chamber ensembles, rarely, if ever, make a living by moving from concert venue to concert venue and giving recitals; Shostakovich admitted to envying this nomadic life.
So, it wasn’t without ulterior motive that the composer, in response to a 1940 commission from the Beethoven Quartet, wrote a quintet for strings and piano and requested that he be the pianist for the performances of the work (and thus be allowed to travel with them).
He got his wish. The work was such a great public success that it won the prestigious Stalin Prize and, as an extra bonus, the happy composer got to tour extensively with the quartet.
But first, a work which, reputedly, was a model for the Shostakovich quintet. Sergei Taneyev’s unjustly neglected and magisterial Piano Quintet (also in g), Op. 30:
0:00 – Introduzione. Adagio mesto – Allegro patetico
19:19 – Scherzo. Presto
25:20 – Largo
34:54 – Finale. Allegro vivace – Moderato maestoso
While there are similarities, unlike the Taneyev, the overall shape of the Shostakovich is (nearly) that of a Baroque suite, starting with a Prelude and Fugue:
00:00 Prelude: Lento
4:44 Fugue: Adagio
15:45 Scherzo: Allegretto
19:50 Intermezzo: Lento
26:54 Finale: Allegretto
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Iaago
The Art of Listening 