# The Wonder of Chamber Music



## ProudSquire (Nov 30, 2011)

That's right, it's the string quintet, *Not* the string quartet. I feel that composers have generally either shied away from this area of composition, or wrote minimal work/s for the genre , which is a shame. Notable string quintets includes those of Mozart's, Schubert's, Mendelssohn's, Brahms', Dvořák's and that damned Boccherini who wrote an abundance of them. 

Some of my favorite quintets:

Mozart's:
G minor quintet
C major quintet 
D major quintet

Schubert's:
C major quintet

Brahms':
G major quintet

Dvořák's:
G major quintet

I actually haven't decided if I like string quintets more than string quartets because of/or due to the minimal contribution/s (which I could be very wrong about) that have been made to the genre. Anyway, what are some of your favorite string quintets, and how do you feel it as a genre. And because it needs to be discussed, once in a while.


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## davinci (Oct 11, 2012)

I like string quintets due to the addition of a double bass or second viola. Quintet with piano, not so much.

Good pieces not on ur list...
Bruckner quintet in F major
Dvorak quintet in E flat major, Op.97
Schubert's "Trout" quintet in A major
Brahms Quintet in F major, Op. 88


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

String quintets and better, ranked:

1 - Schubert, String Quintet in C Major
2 - Brahms, String Sextet #2 in G Major
3 - Mendelssohn, Octet for Strings in E-Flat
4 - Schoenberg, String Sextet, Verklärte Nacht
5 - Mozart, String Quintet #4 in G Minor
6 - Brahms, String Quintet #2 in G Major
7 - Dvorak, String Quintet #3 in E-Flat
8 - Brahms, String Sextet #1 in B-Flat Major
9 - Beethoven, String Quintet in C Major
10 - Mozart, String Quintet #3 in C Major


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## Hassid (Sep 29, 2012)

Cherubini
Taneyev
Dvorak op.1
Glazunov


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## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

And a forest of Boccherinis !


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## Ramako (Apr 28, 2012)

The Mozart ones in G minor, D major and E flat major. Mozart is the only composer for whom I prefer quintets to quartets.

Someone has to say they prefer quartets...


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

Robert Simpson wrote two - both different in character to each other and well worth looking into.


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## Sonata (Aug 7, 2010)

Mendelssohn's & Brahm's quintets :clap:


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## Kieran (Aug 24, 2010)

I wonder how these things develop. There must be an optimum point, beyond which it's no longer chamber music. That's fine, but why - as the OP states - did the string quartet become so hugely popular? And is this popularity at the expense of the quintet? Is it to do with musical balance, of some sort? I love Mozart's string trio and his quintets more than his quartets. And I find that there's as much texture and richness in the trio as in the quintets. 

But the quintet has the added bonus of being able to subtract a viola and add a cello, which give more options than the quartet. Yet still the quartet reigns supreme. Maybe the quartet is the happy medium of instrument combinations? You might get the right 'full sound' in a way that's easier for composers than the trio or quintet - or is this nonsense?


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## quack (Oct 13, 2011)

For myself I like string groupings, trio, quartet, quintet the actual numbers don't matter so much but add a piano and I feel it throws off the balance as it is an entirely different kind of voice. I like pianos in duos or sonatas, pianos in concertos but not so much in the in between groups.


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## davinci (Oct 11, 2012)

quack said:


> For myself I like string groupings, trio, quartet, quintet the actual numbers don't matter so much but add a piano and I feel it throws off the balance as it is an entirely different kind of voice. I like pianos in duos or sonatas, pianos in concertos but not so much in the in between groups.


yes, add a piano into the quintet or sextet and it's a very different genre.


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