Classical music has been written for single instruments and for huge orchestras with 100s of instruments. But what size ensemble give a composer the biggest range of musical effects with the smallest number of musical instruments?

I’m gonna say piano quintet—2 violins, 1 viola, 1 cello and 1 piano. An all-string ensemble has to work at not being homogeneously bowed-stringy, but with a piano you can add all kinds of other effects--including percussion effects.

Tchaikowsky’s piano quintet is one of the greatest. In the theme-and-variations movement there are times when it’s like listening to a full symphony orchestra, and you could hardly improve it—or make it sound more full—by adding more instruments.

But my favorite piano quintet is Ernst Bloch’s. He gets orchestral sonorities sometimes just by writing parts for the strings in parallel octaves, rather than by creating the fullest chords possible. This quintet also is one of the few examples in which quarter tones and microtones are used to good effect, rather than just as a stunt.

So, what's your favorite piano quintet?

OK--initially I said for pinhedz only, but I've decided to open this thread up to non-pinhedz as well now.

What's your favorite piano quintet?

pinhead you are aways nice may I interuped please just to ask "What is OSTs" as it say in the title? Thankyou

Ida

That would be original sound tracks from the moving picture shows (talkies, of course!)

Or maybe "Orchestral Sound Tracks?" That's what I thought it meant, so the music would be classical-like (but Anton Karas is here anyway).

Orthopedic Shoe Technician's.

Dvorak's warm, lyrical Piano Quintet in A Major is a perennial audience favorite in the chamber music repertoire. This program's stellar ensemble includes virtuosos Lindsay Deutsch and Bei Zhu (violins), Paul Neubauer (viola), Gary Hoffman (cello), and Weiyin Chen (piano). Series: "La Jolla Music Society: SummerFest"

Did you all notice that the tune of the song "Nature Boy" was obviously stolen from the Dvorak quintet?

Fun fact:

"Nature Boy" was written by eden ahbez (no caps), whose real name was George McGrew, and before that his real name was George Alexander Aberle. He lived under the first "L" in the big Hollywood sign over Los Angeles, and ate only raw vegetables, fruits and nuts.

Old Sailor Types

[quote="pinhedz"]Did you all notice that the tune of the song "Nature Boy" was obviously stolen from the Dvorak quintet?

Fun fact:

"Nature Boy" was written by eden ahbez (no caps), whose real name was George McGrew, and before that his real name was George Alexander Aberle. He lived under the first "L" in the big Hollywood sign over Los Angeles, and ate only raw vegetables, fruits and nuts.[quote]


Of course it was obviously stolen from the Dvorak quintet. Who doesn't know that? Poor people with cheap guns is who. Thus another reason they should be exterminated.

I liked it better when the sign read:







Hollywoodland so captures the true vid that is Hollywood: A crazy theme park with lots of bouncy boobies...


You need to punk this forum up, Pinz, because the way it is now, yeah, boring...

I notice that since I allowed non-pinhedz in, it's gone off track.