rahms first scored what was to become his Quintet in F minor, Op.34, for piano, two violins, viola, and cello for two violins, one viola, and two cellos—no piano. The scoring and perhaps the music was inspired by Schubert’s similarly pianoless, two-cello Quintet in C major. The original Brahms score has been lost. Cellist Terry King, a protégé of the great Gregor Piatigorsky and the first American-born teacher to teach a Tchaikovsky Competition Gold Medal winner, long wondered what the original quintet sounded like. He sent me this quote, from Clara Schumann, from just after she read Brahms’s original score, playing
(Re)imagining a Brahms piano quintet—without piano.
Sep 05, 2023
4 minutes
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