Piano Quintet in A major Op.81 (1887)

Dvorak had two goes at writing a Piano Quintet in A major. The first was in 1872 but the score was not published, however, and it remained out of sight until the composer had another look at it fifteen years later. Instead of revising it, however, he discarded it and, within less than three weeks, wrote an entirely new work for the same instruments in the same key.

It is clear from the start, as the piano offers a gentle background of A major harmonies to the cello’s confiding presentation of the main theme, that the keyboard is not going to dominate the strings, as it did in the earlier work. Obviously, the piano lends its weight to such dramatic events as the A minor outburst which immediately follows but it rarely applies chords by the whole handful. The right hand more characteristically carries a single line, often in a fairly high register, where the sound is bright but not overwhelming. The blending of pianissimo piano and strings in the poetic modulations of the first part of the development is particularly inspired.

Although Dvorak needed no encouragement to write a dumka, he might have found a precedent for this extraordinary Andante con moto in the equally unconventional slow movement of Schumann’s Piano Quintet in E flat. Or so it seems from the seriously rueful quality of their respective main themes, both of which are used as a ritornello between contrasting episodes. He needed no encouragement to write a furiant either but it is difficult to understand why he chose to apply that description to his A-major Scherzo, which has little or nothing of the furiant’s characteristic rhythms. It is no less brilliant for that, just as the sonorities in the two episodes ­- the first featuring a melodious viola accompanied by luminous bell-like chords on the piano, the second breathing a quiet F major chorale - are no less seductive for being so simple in conception.

After sustaining a relatively discreet role in the first three movements the piano is rather more prominent in the Finale. The main themes are introduced by the first violin but both of them are immediately taken up by a piano with clear virtuoso intentions. It is the piano that leads the harmonies astray in the development and it not only motivates the return of the main theme but also prompts a quiet but strategically effective reminder of the chorale at the beginning of the coda.

Dvorak had two goes at writing a Piano Quintet in A major. The first was in 1872, when his efforts were rewarded by one of his earliest public performances. The score was not published, however, and it remained out of sight until, fifteen years later, the composer had another look at it. But instead of revising it, which had apparently been his intention, he discarded it and, within less than three weeks, wrote an entirely new work for the same instruments in the same key.

Clearly, while there were irredeemable problems in the early Piano Quintet Op.5, there were also elements that encouraged him. If the Lisztian piano writing in the last movement seemed inappropriate to his mature way of thinking, it could be that the more Schubertian piano part in the first two movements showed him how this problematic medium could be best approached. Certainly, the Piano Quintet Op.81 has more in common with the “Trout” Quintet (in spite of the presence of a double bass and the absence of a second violin in Schubert’s string ensemble) than either of the two major examples of the form current at the time, Schumann’s in E flat and Brahms’s in F minor. While luxuriating in the textural potential offered by a piano and a string quartet, he is not tempted to overload it.

It is clear from the start, as the piano offers a gentle background of A major harmonies to the cello’s confiding presentation of the main theme, that the keyboard is not going to dominate the strings. Obviously, the piano lends its weight to such dramatic events as the A minor outburst which immediately follows but it rarely applies chords by the whole handful. The right hand more characteristically carries a single line, or a line in octaves, often in fairly high register, where the sound is bright but not overwhelming. When it comes to the second subject it is again the piano that supplies the harmonic background, this time in C sharp minor to a melody on the viola and then violin. The blending of pianissimo piano and strings in the poetic modulations of the first part of the development is particularly inspired.

Although Dvorak needed no encouragement to write a dumka even when he wasn’t quite sure what a dumka was – he apparently sought an authoritative definition only when he was about to put six of them together in his “Dumky” Trio in 1891 – he might have found some kind of precedence for this extraordinary slow movement in the equally unconventional In Modo d’una Marcia in Schumann’s Piano Quintet in E flat. Or so it seems from the seriously rueful quality of their respective main themes, both of which are used as a ritornello between contrasting episodes. Dvorak is economically resourceful in the variety of melancholy colouring applied to the F sharp minor main theme on its four Andante con moto appearances and correspondingly liberated in the three quicker episodes – above all perhaps in the first in D major with its two violins in legato counterpoint, its interlocking pizzicato figurations on viola and cello and its discreet cross rhythms in the piano accompaniment.

Since Dvorak knew perfectly well what a furiant was, it is difficult to understand why he chose to apply that description to his A-major Scherzo, which has little or nothing of the furiant’s characteristic twos against threes in its rhythms. It is no less brilliant for that, of course, just as the sonorities in the two episodes – the first featuring a melodious viola accompanied by luminous bell-like chords on the piano, the second breathing a quiet F major chorale, both of them overlaid by allusions to the main theme – are no less seductive for being so simple in conception.

After sustaining a relatively discreet role in the first three movements – discreet by Schumann’s or Brahms’s standards, that is – the piano is rather more prominent in the Finale. The main themes are introduced by the first violin but both of them are immediately taken up by a piano with clear virtuoso intentions. It is the piano that leads the harmonies astray in the development and, although it has no independent part to play in promoting in Dvorak’s fugato challenge to Brahms, it not only motivates the return of the main theme but also prompts a quiet but strategically effective reminder of the chorale at the beginning of the coda.