Piano Quintet in E-flat Major, Op. 44

Composer: SCHUMANN, Robert
  • Schumann’s Piano Quintet in E-flat Major, Op. 44, was composed in 1842 and consists of four movements:
    1. Allegro brillante
    2. In Modo d’una Marcia
    3. Scherzo
    4. Allegro ma non troppo
  • The piece is scored for violins, viola, cello, and piano. Schumann dedicated the quintet to his wife/ fellow composer, Clara Schumann.1
    • In a letter to his publisher, Schumann hoped to have the piece printed in time for Clara’s birthday (September 13th). Clara reportedly adored the quintet and programmed it regularly at recitals.2
  • One interesting characteristic of Schumann as a composer was that he tended to focus on specific genres for a period of time. For example, the year of his marriage to Clara (1840) has also become known as his “year of song” given the output of Lieder he produced. 1842, the year he wrote Piano Quintet in E-flat Major, Op. 44, was Schumann’s “year of chamber music.”
  • For this work, Schumann was likely inspired by Mozart’s piano concertos, or more specifically, Mozart’s optional orchestra reductions to string quartets for his piano concertos.3

Sources

  1. “Piano Quintet, Op.44 (Schumann, Robert),” IMSLP, accessed March 28, 2025, https://imslp.org/wiki/Piano_Quintet,_Op.44_(Schumann,_Robert).
  2. Ernst Herttrich, “Preface: Piano Quintet E flat major op. 44,” G. Henle Verlag (2006), accessed March 28, 2025, https://www.henle.de/en/Piano-Quintet-E-flat-major-op.-44/HN-355.
  3. Jim Svejda, “Piano Quintet in E-flat major, Op. 44,” L. A. Phil, accessed March 28, 2025, https://www.laphil.com/musicdb/pieces/2819/piano-quintet-in-e-flat-major-op-44.

Cut IDs

41132 12889 11268