Sterndale Bennett´s Piano Quintet?

[Simon]

Lately, I have uncovered two different sources referring to a Quintet for piano and wind instruments by William Sterndale Bennett. The first is the 1897 British Musical Biography (under "Bennett, Sir William Sterndale"), the second being the 1890 Grove Dictionary (under "University Musical Societies"). It seems to be unnoticed by modern sources.

According to the Grove Dictionary entry, it was performed on November 17, 1856, in Cambridge, by the composer himself with professional wind players by his side. I see that Sterndale Bennett had performed Beethoven's Piano Quintet Op. 16 in April of the same year (he had also played the piano part in a performance of Mozart's Quintet K. 452 in February 1853), so I guess it could be the inspiration for this work.

Does anyone know more about this lost Quintet? Is it also "in private ownership" (such as the Piano Concerto No. 6 and the overture The Tempest)? Any details about the instrumentation or the first performance?

Thanks!

[semloh]

Well spotted, Simon! This is fascinating. The Grove reference you mention reappears in the 1900 edition, although no such work is listed under Bennett's name. As far as I can tell, the current Grove makes no reference to the work at all. A "piano quintet" is noted in Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians (5th ed. 1958), but not in Brown's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians (1886), and it doesn't appear in the detailed list of works, published and unpublished, in the biography by his son The Life of William Sterndale Bennett (Bennett 1907).

Which is no help at all! 

[giles.enders]

I have drawn this news to the attention of Barry Sterndale-Bennett.  He is looking into the matter.  It is certainly not in the hands of "private ownership" as it is known what is in that collection.

[semloh]

Any further news on this yet, Giles? Any more information, anyone?

[Simon]

Nothing at this point... I'll try to get in touch with the Cambridge University Musical Society next week and ask them for details of the 1856 program.

[Simon]

Just to make things clear, here is a follow-up by Richard Andrewes, emeritus Vice President of Cambridge University Musical Society (CUMS):

"[...] I have only just been able to get my hands on the right volume of programmes that include reports on the concerts made by the President of the Society.

The concert on 17th November 1856 was the 73rd given by the Society, and the new professor [Sterndale Bennett] did take part as conductor of the orchestral items and as accompanist for some of the other pieces. CUMS did not have a very strong band, and Bennet brought up four professional wind players from London to strengthen the performance of Beethoven's Symphony no. 2 which opened the concert. The report continues to say that he played the piano in the quintet with the four professional wind players (presumably oboe, clarinet, horn and bassoon), but does not give the name of the composed, and without the programme it could be inferred that it was a quintet by himself. However the programme clearly gives the name of the composer of the quintet as Beethoven, and that therefore it must be Beethoven's Opus 16 in E flat.

I suspect that Brown's Dictionary got his information from the erroneous information in Grove.

The only music by Bennett in the programme was his song "Winters macht is ueberwunder" and two piano pieces "Genevieve: romance" and "Rondo piacevole" played by the composer. Bennet did conduct return several times for his annual concert: Mozart's requiem on 4-12-1857; Mendelssohn's Antigone on 28-5-1858, probably Bennett's May Day on 7-11-1860, and Mendelssohn's Antigone (again) on 20-5-1860, possibly Bennett's Ode for the International Exhibition on 4-6-1862, and possibly Bennett's Piano concerto in F minor. Neither the programmes nor the president's reports do the name of the conductor for these Bennett performances.

I hope that clears up the mystery of the missing Piano and wind quintet!"


I must add that I am very thankful to Mr Andrewes for allowing me to share this answer with members of this forum and for solving that chamber music mystery (even though I wish Sterndale Bennett would have actually performed his own Quintet, which never existed in the end, instead of Beethoven's...).

[Gareth Vaughan]

erroneous information in Grove.

Why am I not surprised?

[semloh]

Thank you for taking the trouble to clear that up, Simon.
Richard has misjudged Brown, though, because the Dictionary makes no mention of the quintet. It only appears in the early editions of Grove, and was later expunged.
Pity, it would have been interesting if it had actually been a lost work by WSB.

[Simon]

Richard has misjudged Brown, though, because the Dictionary makes no mention of the quintet.

Actually it's in the 1897 version of Brown's British Musical Biography, on page 42 ("A quintet for pianoforte and wind instruments").

https://archive.org/details/britishmusicalb00brow/page/n3/mode/2up

[semloh]

I plead confusion, Simon, brought on by the anticipation of such a piece actually existing! 
My apologies to the esteemed Richard Andrewes.