Piano Quintet in G minor (Sibelius)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Piano Quintet in G minor | |
|---|---|
| by Jean Sibelius | |
 The composer in 1889 | |
| Catalogue | JS 159 |
| Composed | 1890 |
| Publisher | Hansen (1993)[1] |
| Duration | 36.5 mins.[2] |
| Movements | 5 |
| Premiere | |
| Date | 5 May 1890 (Movements I, III)[1] |
| Location | Helsinki, Grand Duchy of Finland |
| Performers |
|
The Piano Quintet in G minor, JS 159, is a five-movement chamber piece for two violins, viola, cello, and piano[3] written in 1890 by the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius. When composing the piece, Sibelius replaced the original Movement IV (marked Vivace) with a scherzo (Vivacissimo); the earlier Vivace is extant.[4]
Movements I and III of the Piano Quintet premiered in Helsinki on 5 May 1890 at the Music Institute (now the Sibelius Academy); the performers included the Norwegian composer Johan Halvorsen (violin) and the Italian composer Ferruccio Busoni (piano), as well as Karl Wasenius (violin), Josef Schwartz (viola), and Otto Hutschenreuter (cello).[1] Movements II and IV had their premieres a half-year later on 11 October the first four movements were performed in Turku; among the soloists was Sibelius's close friend, the playwright Adolf Paul, who played piano, as well as Richard Hagel on first violin.[1]
At neither of the two 1890 concerts was Movement V played. As a result, Sibelius rescued themes from the finale by reusing them for the Rondo in D minor (JS 162, 1893) for viola and piano duo, as well as the first of the Six Impromptus (Op. 5/1, 1893) for solo piano.[4] In 1965, Movement V was played for the first time when the quintet in its entirety was premiered properly on 24 May at the Turku Concert Hall; the instrumentalists were as follows: Tuomas Haapanen (violin), Pekka Kari (violin), Mauri Pietikäinen (viola), Erkki Rautio (cello), and Liisa Pohjola (piano).[1]
