For my past ten entries, I listened to works by composers named on CultureTrip.com’s list of “10 Young Composers Who Are Redefining Classical Music," HERE. Therefore, since I have now written about ten contemporary pieces, I thought I’d turn my attention to something more traditional. I chose at random Robert Schumann’s Piano Quintet in E Flat Major.
The Quintet was written in 1842, and it has four movements:
The work is certainly a pleasant if not lovely piece, though it is not particularly striking or memorable to me. I listened to Franz Schubert’s “Fantasie in F Minor” for two pianos for the first time this year (I wrote about it here), and it has really stuck with me. I listen to it quite often now. However, I’m not sure that will be the case with this quintet by Schumann. I did enjoy the piece. I liked it very much -- but again, while it is very pleasant music to listen to, there’s nothing particularly “catchy” about it. There’s nothing really memorable. It’s funny though that I say that the work is not “really memorable,” because I wonder if I’ve heard this piece before. There’s a passage in the fourth movement that I seem to remember. It starts at 23:02 in the YouTube video here. Have I heard this quintet before, and I just don’t remember it? Or does this passage just remind me of some other piece I’ve heard before? Comments under the YouTube video state that “Robert Schumann’s Quintet for piano and strings in E flat major has earned a place of distinction among piano quintets, one of only a handful...that are known to more than just a few performers.” The writer goes on to describe the work as “fresh, buoyant, and inventive” -- and that is true. Overall the work is very buoyant -- particularly the third movement, it’s a real foot-tapper -- and I suspect that the entire piece is fun to play. I just didn’t find it memorable. Impressive? Yes. Memorable? No.
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A New Hope:As the header above says, each week I will listen to a piece of classical music that I've never heard before, and then I will report out what I thought about it. Archives
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