The Piano Quartet and Quintet: Style, Structure, and Scoring

ISBN-13: 9780198166405 / Angielski / Miękka / 1996 / 208 str.

Basil Smallman

Opis

Designed as a companion volume to the author's earlier study, The Piano Trio, this book surveys the development of the piano quartet and quintet from their beginnings in the mid-eighteenth century to the present day. Developments during the first four decades of the nineteenth century resulted not only in Schubert's renowned Trout Quintet, but also in works of much brilliance by Dussek, Hummel, Weber, and others in which the piano predominates in a concerto-like role. Subsequently, Schumann's epoch-making quintet of 1842 initiated a broadly "symphonic" style, with large-scale structures and closely integrated textures, which was taken up by many later composers, including Brahms, Dvorak, Cesar Franck, Faure, and Elgar. The author also examines the numerous changes in the nature of the genres which have occurred in recent times, and gives special consideration to a number of works by leading twentieth-century composers, in which "mixed" media are formed by combining wind instruments with the normal strings-and-piano ensembles.

Recenzje

Smallman's writing style enlivens a topic that necessitated a fairly straightforward approach. Readers are likely to turn to this slender volume as a reference work. Chamber music performers will want to consult it for ideas on repertory. It is also a fine source for program notes for concert programs or compact disc album notes. The six-page bibliography provides ample material for further research.