Piano Quintet must hear

[Glazier]

What are the piano quintets to put on the list after Brahms Schumann  and Dvorak?

I'd nominate Dohnanyi and Faure.

[JimL]

Wouldn't mind hearing the Rheinberger C Major Quintet Op. 114 again.  And again.

[eschiss1]

Wouldn't mind hearing the Rheinberger C Major Quintet Op. 114 again.  And again.

The opening of that one does stick in my memory. (Of course the rest isn't half bad either As does that of the earlier and once very, very popular piano quartet.)

I wouldn't personally place it third behind the Brahms and Schumann (Dvorak 2 goes way below, but that's personal preference speaking), but I would certainly recommend it highly.
I know this is not a forum for modern music, but Shostakovich's quintet and Bloch's 2 quintets are very important contributions to the repertoire (in every sense. Even if Bloch's 2nd has the same problem I find in Dvorak 2 - way, way too much piano doubling Still a great work.)
The piano quintet attracted the attention of quite a few composers during the 19th century (and afterwards). When it comes down to it I can't be objective about my own favorites I expect, which include works as variable in actual quality as the Medtner quintet (rather bombastic I'm sure, but carries me along in its cheer, its flow, and that hymn/march theme toward the end, among other qualities), the Raff, Farrenc's two, Bax's passionate beast of a quintet from 1915, Schmidt's very characteristic and lovely quintet for left hand in G (and, even lovelier - and sadder... - with clarinet, in A - I still don't know the one in B-flat), the two Faure and Dohnanyi works mentioned, for instance. (I'm getting to know Enescu's 1940-ish quintet, probably influenced by Faure somewhat. Not a top choice?, but a wonderful work all the same. Way down on the list, not because I don't like it but because it doesn't seem to be especially on the same plane of genius, is the B minor quintet of Pejacevic, but I'm only recently listening to that, and to Roy Harris' quintet, for instance.
Back when, Eric Brustin, on usenet, was compiling a list of piano quintet composers. I have no idea what became of it, but expect it became very long. The very good and important ones would be a truly small subset, but I've always felt it might contain some surprises from odd places on the list, of course. Sometime I'll have to see if I can get him to send me a copy...
Apologies for digressions.
Eric

[Glazier]

Wow! Overload threatens. Any votes for W Berger?

[Hofrat]

What are the piano quintets to put on the list after Brahms Schumann  and Dvorak?

I'd nominate Dohnanyi and Faure.

Firstly, Schubert's piano quintet rates enough to belong along side those of Brahms, Schumann, and Dvorak.

Secondly, Dvorak wrote 2 piano quintets:  opus 5 and opus 81, both in A major.  Of course opus 81 is much better that his youthful opus 5.

Here are  some more piano quintets:
Dussek
Hummel x 2
Berwald x 2
Borodin

[Kriton]

Plenty of good piano quintets to go around. My absolute unsung favourites, though, are:

- Berger in F Minor
- Florent Schmitt in B Minor
- Schäfer in D flat
- Medtner in C
- Korngold in E

The first 2 are of symphonic proportions, the 3rd is full of good tunes, the Medtner is a good introduction to the rest of his music as well (don't be scared off by the fact some people write it's one of his most inaccessible works!), and the Korngold is as fin-de-siècle you can get.

[Kriton]

Firstly, Schubert's piano quintet rates enough to belong along side those of Brahms, Schumann, and Dvorak.

Sorry, I really have to disagree here. The Schubert quintet is on a totally different level. If you're just talking about popular works for piano & strings, ok. But the Trout Quintet not only has the different instrumentation, but also the number of movements, and the completely unromantic atmosphere which may make it a very nice piece (although not Schubert's best), but hardly stuff for comparison with the Schumann, Brahms, and Dvorák pieces. I would rather put the Farrenc and Götz, and perhaps Boisdeffre, Labor, Percy, and Vaughan Williams quintets, which are all with double bass, up for comparison. Maybe the proto-romantic examples by Ries or Louis Ferdinand as well...

To get them out of the way, here some more 'double bass piano quintet divertimentos': Limmer, 2 by Cramer, and 2 by Onslow. Someone mentioned Hummel, he actually wrote 3 - that is to say: he wrote 1, and transcribed 2 other works for the form. Piano quintets in nothing but name...

[edurban]

Amy Beach and Arthur Foote.  The Beach has a glorious slow movement, and I defy anyone not to love the last movement of the Foote, Dvorakian as it is...

David

[Alan Howe]

The PQ by Wilhelm Berger is to my mind one of the greatest pieces of chamber music in any genre. The composer belongs to an in-between generation and his output contains a high number of masterpieces. The scale of the PQ is positively symphonic, which may put performers off trying it, but the level of inspiration fully justifies its length. The idiom is broadly post-Brahmsian, but not one that has 'gone to seed', as one finds in so much of Reger. It is more chromatic than Brahms, but not as tortured in its processes as in mature Reger. I am astonished that the performance on MDG has not been joined by other recordings.

[Kriton]

The PQ by Wilhelm Berger is to my mind one of the greatest pieces of chamber music in any genre.
(...)
I am astonished that the performance on MDG has not been joined by other recordings.

As am I -  this quintet ought to be one of the cornerstones of the repertoire. Every movement is highly addictive, and a live performance of the work would bring down the house! (is that still English?)

In any case, way more pleasurable to listen to than both of the Reger quintets, although they're not without their merits, either.

[mbhaub]

One of my favorites is the quintet by Kurt Atterberg which is an arrangement of his 6th symphony.

[John Hudock]

I ditto a vote for Faure's 2 lovely piano quintets, I am a big fan of all of his chamber music. Also Borodin's, whose chamber music I also adore.

Also in the French tradition there are very nice piano quintets by Vierne, Pierne and Widor.

Other notables I don't think have been mentioned yet:

Vaughan-Williams
Franck
Elgar
Saint-Saens
Martinu (x2)
Bartok


Ades
Bacewicz (x2)
Bliss
Biarent
Badings
Coleridge-Taylor
Chadwick
Dubois
Draeseke
Gouvy
Goetz
Goldmark (x2)
Leighton
Le Flem
Kiel (x2)
Reynaldo Hahn
Perosi (x3)
Novak
Martucci
Ries
Rontgen (x3, I am not sure the first has been recorded)
Raff
Pfitzner
Onslow (several)
Spohr
Sgambati (I only have a recording of the first, but he has more than one)
Sinding
Turina
Taneyev
Stanford
Thuille (x2)
Weinberg (Vainberg)
and while not everyone's cup of tea there is also one by Webern

(oops, I see Kriton has already mentioned the Vaughan Williams, Onslow and Ries)

[Kriton]

John, that's some list! I am going to have a fun time expanding it... Hope I don't double up on your names!

Also in the French tradition there are very nice piano quintets by Vierne, Pierne and Widor.

Widor wrote no less than 2, as did Cellier. Then there are 4 quintets by Boisdeffre. One quintet each by:
- Castillon
- Chevillard
- Cras
- Huré (got this one in the mail today!)
- D'Indy
- Lacroix
- Lalo
- Lefevbre
- Pfeiffer
- Ratez
- Sévérac
- Vermeire
- Wailly

Along with already mentioned (more famous) examples, that fairly completes the French side of the story. Of course, a lot of them haven't been recorded yet.

Let's pause here and return to the original question 'What are the piano quintets to put on the list...', I'm just thinking it probably doesn't really make sense just to throw out names, without some kind of commentary - something I can accuse myself of right now, as well. Might be rather personal, but the quintets from your list I would absolutely NOT recommend are:

- Ades (boring)
- Bacewicz (downright horrible)
- Martinu (perhaps only if you like Martinu's music generally - a far cry from Schumann and Brahms, though)

The Badings, Leighton, Perosi, Turina, and Vainberg quintets I don't know yet - can you tell me anything recommendable about them? I have yet to start liking their music, but perhaps their piano quintets are a good place to start?

The Webern quintet, on the other hand, a youthful essay in romanticism, I can really recommend to any fan of late romanticism.

[eschiss1]

I'll stand up for the Bacewicz - the first is sort of Bartok-ish, the second in her later more modernist style (if memory serves).  But they aren't for people for whom music stops at Debussy

[Gareth Vaughan]

In answer to Glazier's initial question: Schubert (of course), but IMHO most certainly Raff and Berger.