# Bax and Bridge piano quintets



## whispering (Oct 26, 2013)

Please can I ask for some help. I have been listening to various piano quintets over the last year or so, that are not in the group of what you might call the very well known eg beyond Brahms, Schumann, Dvorak,etc. Recently I have come up against those by Arnold Bax and Frank Bridge. They are real gems and I must confess I know nothing more about the composers and their other works. My interest is chamber music. Where would it be best to move onto to get a better understanding of the other works by these composers. With regards to Bridge I have found several comments indicating his style changed several times during his life time. Any suggestions would be most helpful. The Bax piano quintet was very different to any other I had heard todate. Thanks if you feel able to reply to this thread.


----------



## MusicSybarite (Aug 17, 2017)

As for Bridge, I recommend the _Phantasy Piano Quartet_ and _Phantasy Piano Trio_. Both pieces rather engaging. I don't know his Piano Quintet yet but I think I need to remedy that soon. I do know that some of his string quartets are kind of challenging e.g. 3 and 4.

As for Bax, try the Harp Quintet. It's short (around 15 min) but highly rewarding. I also recommend his string quartets and _In memoriam_ for English horn, harp and string quartet. The Piano Quintet in G minor is in fact wondrous.


----------

