Piano Quintet (Brahms)

Piano Quintet (Brahms)

The Piano Quintet in F minor, Op. 34, by Johannes Brahms was completed during the summer of 1864 and published in 1865. It was dedicated to Her Royal Highness the Princess Anna of Hesse and by Rhine. Like most piano quintets, it is written for piano and string quartet (two violins, viola and cello).

The piece is in four movements:

1. Allegro non troppo (F minor)
2. Andante, un poco adagio (A♭ major)
3. Scherzo: Allegro (C minor - C major)
4. Finale: Poco sostenuto - Allegro non troppo - Presto, non troppo (F minor)

The work began life as a string quintet (completed in 1862 and scored for two violins, viola and two cellos). Brahms transcribed the quintet into a sonata for two pianos (in which form Brahms and Carl Tausig performed it) before taking its final form. Brahms destroyed the original version for string quintet, but published the Sonata as opus 34 bis. The outer movements are more adventurous than usual in terms of harmony and are unsettling in effect. The introduction to the finale, with its rising figure in semitones, is especially remarkable. Both piano and strings play an equally important role throughout this work.