ORCHESTRATION
OF BRAHMS'S PIANO QUINTET IN F-MINOR OP.
34
"The work is splendid, but it cannot be called a sonata.
Rather it is a work so full of ideas that it requires an
orchestra for its interpretation. These ideas are for the
most part lost on the piano. The first time I tried the
work I had a feeling that it was an arrangement. So please
remodel it once more!" Clara Schumann to Brahms, July 22nd,
1864.
The history of
Brahms’s great Piano Quintet op. 34 is unusual: Brahms was
not sure which orchestration would suit the work best. He
first wrote the piece as a String Quintet. But Clara
Schumann and Joseph Joachim disliked that version and
encouraged Brahms to rework it. Joachim, in particular,
thought it was too dense and complicated. Brahms remodelled
the work for two pianos, and destroyed the string quintet
version. Still, Clara Schumann was dissatisfied. She
famously concluded that the work was “so full of ideas that
it needs an orchestra for its interpretation.”
Brahms did not follow Clara’s suggestion. He chose a
compromise between the string quintet and two pianos: the
piano quintet (piano, two violins, viola, cello). But what
if he had followed her idea? The present orchestration,
realized as much as possible in the style of Brahms,
explores that tantalizing avenue. It is therefore entitled
“For Clara Schumann.”
The orchestration is scored for two flutes (2nd also plays
piccolo), two oboes, two clarinets (A and Bb), two
bassoons, four horns, two trumpets, timpani and strings.
More information at:
www.brahmsquintet.com