String Quintet No. 2 in

G major G major (or the key of G) is a major scale based on G, with the pitches G, A, B, C, D, E, and F. Its key signature has one sharp. Its relative minor is E minor and its parallel minor is G minor. The G major scale is: Notable compositi ...

, Op. 111, is a work by

Johannes Brahms Johannes Brahms (; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, pianist, and conductor of the mid- Romantic period. Born in Hamburg into a Lutheran family, he spent much of his professional life in Vienna. He is sometimes grouped wit ...

composed in 1890 and published in 1891. It is known as the ''Prater'' Quintet. Brahms intended it to be his last piece of music, though he later produced a number of piano pieces and the two sonatas for clarinet or viola and piano. The first performance of the Quintet in Vienna on November 11, 1890 was a sensation (Swafford 1997, p. 568). Like Brahms' earlier

string quintet A string quintet is a musical composition for five string players. As an extension to the string quartet (two violins, a viola, and a cello), a string quintet includes a fifth string instrument, usually a second viola (a so-called "viola quintet" ...

, Opus 88, it is a viola quintet, scored for two

violins The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

, two violas and

cello The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a Bow (music), bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), t ...

. The work has four movements. The first movement is marked ''Allegro non troppo, ma con brio'', and is in . Its opening is dominated by a cello solo in G major. The middle section is in G minor, though it passes through numerous keys before returning to G major by the end. The second movement is marked ''Adagio'', and is in . It starts with a viola solo accompanied by cello pizzicato. Then a ghostly triplet motif is presented by the viola. Both of these thematic materials are played by different instruments and developed, with one section combining the triplet and pizzicato motifs with the opening theme. There is a stormy middle section reminiscent of Schubert's cello quintet. The entire movement has a key signature of D minor, but it ends on a D major chord. The third movement, marked ''Un poco allegretto'', is in time and is loosely based on a minuet and trio form, finishing with a short coda the uses the material of the trio instead of that of the minuet. The "minuet" section, which is in G minor, is followed by a "trio" section in G major, followed by another "minuet" section (written out) and finally the coda section in the key of the trio. The fourth movement, marked ''Vivace, ma non troppo presto'', is in and has a key signature of one sharp (G major and E minor) throughout. It displays influences of Hungarian music. The opening theme in the first viola is in B minor, and is copied by the first violin nine bars later. However, a new, upbeat, dance-like theme in G major is presented shortly after in the 1st violin. Many different thematic materials are presented in this movement's exposition, many of which are developed in the intensely fugal development section. After a recap of the original thematic material, there is a large unison scale played forte by all of the instruments right before the stringendo coda. The movement (and the piece) end in G major.

References

BRAHMS STREICH-QUINTETT G-dur / G major Opus 111 EDITION PETERS Nr 3905b

External links

* Chamber music by Johannes Brahms Brahms Quintet 2 1890 compositions Compositions in G major {{chamber-composition-stub

See also

References

External links