The Piano Quintet in G minor, JS 159, is a five-movementchamber 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]
History
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 [fi] (violin), Josef Schwartz (viola), and Otto Hutschenreuter [ru] (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 [de] 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 [fi] (violin), Pekka Kari [fi] (violin), Mauri Pietikäinen [fi] (viola), Erkki Rautio [fi] (cello), and Liisa Pohjola [fi] (piano).[1]
Structure
A 5 May 1890 ad promoting the premiere of Sibelius's G minor Quintet (Movements I and III only; II and IV premiered in October, and V in 1965.)
The first movement, marked Grave – Allegro, is in 3 2time; it has a duration of about 10 minutes.[3]
Movement II
The second movement is an intermezzo; marked Moderato and in 4 4 time, it has a duration of about 4.5 minutes.[5]
Movement III
The third movement, marked Andante, is in 2 4 time; it has a duration of about nine minutes.[5]
Movement IV
The fourth movement is a scherzo; marked Vivacissimo and in 3 4 time, it has a duration of about 3.5 minutes.[5]
Movement V
The fifth movement begins Moderato in 4 4 time before switching to 6 8 for the Vivace. It has a duration of about 9.5 minutes.[1]
Discography
The Finnish pianist Erik T. Tawaststjerna and the Sibelius Academy Quartet made the world premiere studio recording of the G minor Quintet for Finlandia in 1985.[1] The table below lists this and other commercially available recordings:
^Refers to the year in which the performers recorded the work; this may not be the same as the year in which the recording was first released to the general public.
Barnett, Andrew (2007). Sibelius. New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN978-0-300-11159-0.
Dahlström, Fabian[in Swedish] (2003). Jean Sibelius: Thematisch-bibliographisches Verzeichnis seiner Werke [Jean Sibelius: A Thematic Bibliographic Index of His Works] (in German). Wiesbaden: Breitkopf & Härtel. ISBN3-7651-0333-0.
