A piano quintet is a chamber musical ensemble made up of one piano and four other instruments, or the name of a piece written for such a group. Chamber music is a form of classical music, written for a small group of instruments which traditionally could be accommodated in a palace chamber. ... A musical ensemble is, by definition, a group of three or more musicians who gather to perform music. ... This article is about the modern musical instrument. ...

The most common grouping is one piano, two violins, a viola and a cello—that is, a piano with a string quartet. This combination of instruments is so prevalent in classical music, that when the phrase piano quintet is used with no qualifications, it usually refers to this particular group. The violin is a stringed musical instrument that has four strings tuned a perfect fifth apart. ... The viola is a stringed musical instrument which serves as the middle voice of the violin family, between the upper lines played by the violin and the lower lines played by the cello and double bass. ... A cropped image to show the relative size of a cello to a human (Uncropped Version) The violoncello, or as it is more commonly to refered to as the cello or cello (pronounced Cheh-loh), is a stringed instrument and a member of the violin family. ... The resident string quartet of the Library of Congress in 1963 A string quartet is a musical ensemble of four string instruments—usually two violins, a viola and cello—or a piece written to be performed by such a group. ...

Several composers have written piano quintets, although few have written more than one, a rare exception being Gabriel Fauré, who wrote two. Other composers to have written for the usual grouping of a string quartet plus piano include Robert Schumann, Johannes Brahms, Antonin Dvorak (who also wrote more than one, though only one is played with any regularity) and Dmitri Shostakovich. Franz Schubert's famous Trout Quintet is written for the less usual combination of piano, violin, viola, cello and double bass. Portrait with oils of Gabriel Fauré by John Singer Sargent, about 1889 (in the Paris Museum of Music) Gabriel Urbain Fauré (May 12, 1845 – November 4, 1924) was a French composer. ... Robert Schumann (June 8, 1810 – July 29, 1856) was a German composer and pianist. ... Johannes Brahms (May 7, 1833 – April 3, 1897) was a German composer of Romantic music, who predominantly lived in Vienna, Austria. ... Antonín Dvořák Antonín Leopold Dvořák  listen (September 8, 1841 – May 1, 1904) was a Czech composer of classical music. ... Dmitri Dmitrievich Shostakovich   listen? (Russian: ) (September 25, 1906 – August 9, 1975) was a Russian composer of the Soviet period. ... Franz Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (January 31, 1797 – November 19, 1828), was an Austrian composer. ... The Trout Quintet is the popular name for the piano quintet in A major by Franz Schubert. ... Side and front views of a modern double bass with a French bow. ...

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven both wrote pieces for a piano and four wind instruments (oboe, clarinet, French horn and bassoon in both cases). Although these pieces could be called piano quintets, they are more often referred to as "quintets for piano and wind" so as to distinguish them from pieces with the more usual instrumentation. W. A. Mozart, 1790 portrait by Johann Georg Edlinger Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (January 27, 1756 – December 5, 1791) is among the most popular, significant and influential composers of European classical music. ... Ludwig van Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptized December 17, 1770; died March 26, 1827) was a German composer of classical music, who predominantly lived in Vienna, Austria. ... A wind instrument is a member of a family of musical instruments. ... Modern Oboe The Oboe is a musical instrument of the woodwind double reed family. ... A bass clarinet, which sounds an octave lower than the more common B♭ soprano clarinet. ... The horn is a brass instrument consisting of tubing wrapped into a coiled form. ... A Fox Instruments bassoon; view detail. ...

List of works

The following is a partial list of piano quintets by famous composers. All works are for piano and string quartet unless otherwise noted.

• Amy Beach
  • Piano Quintet
• Ludwig van Beethoven
  • Piano Quintet (for piano, oboe, clarinet, horn and bassoon; 1796)
• Johannes Brahms
  • Piano Quintet (1864)
• Ernö Dohnányi
  • Piano Quintet No. 1 (1895)
  • Piano Quintet No. 2 (1914)
• Antonin Dvorak
  • Piano Quintet No. 1 (1875)
  • Piano Quintet No. 2 (1889)
• Edward Elgar
  • Piano Quintet (1918)
• Gabriel Fauré
  • Piano Quintet No. 1 (completed 1905)
  • Piano Quintet No. 2 (completed 1921)
• César Franck
  • Piano Quintet (1879)
• Sofia Gubaidulina
  • Piano Quintet (1957)
• Johann Nepomuk Hummel
  • Piano Quintet (for piano, violin, viola, cello and double bass)
• Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
  • Piano Quintet, K. 452 (for piano, oboe, clarinet, horn and bassoon; 1784)
• Camille Saint-Saëns
  • Piano Quintet in A minor, op. 14 (1855)
• Alfred Schnittke
  • Piano Quintet (1976)
• Franz Schubert
  • Trout Quintet (for piano, violin, viola, cello and double bass; 1819)
• Robert Schumann
  • Piano Quintet (1842)
• Dmitri Shostakovich
  • Piano Quintet (1940)
• Anton Webern
  • Piano Quintet (1907)