String quintet

A string quintet is a musical ensemble of five string players. The name can also apply to any composition for the ensemble. String quintets were common in 17th century Italy and can be found as early as 1607 in Claudio Monteverdi's opera, L'Orfeo.

String quintets add one instrument to the string quartet, which usually comprises two violins, a viola, and a cello. When the viola is the fifth instrument, the ensemble is sometimes called a viola quintet, and likewise for a cello quintet. A Double bass can also be the fifth voice in the ensemble.

Notable examples of classic viola quintets in four movement form include those of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Other examples were written by composers including Johannes Brahms and Felix Mendelssohn.

A famous cello quintet is Franz Schubert's Quintet in C major. Antonín Dvořák's Quintet Op. 77 uses a double bass, and Mozart's famous Eine kleine Nachtmusik may be performed with this instrumentation (the double bass being optional).

Alternative additions to a string quartet include clarinet or piano (see clarinet quintet, piano quintet). A more unusual form of string quintet is the violin quintet composed of 3 violins, a viola and a cello (thus, a string quartet with an additional violin). Besides string quartets and quintets, other closely related chamber music genres include the string trio, and the string sextet.