What site has good information on information on history and roles of piano quintets.?
This question sounds like one of many written by a teacher clueless about music, or a bad teacher of another subject who wants to somehow tie ‘culture’ in with a non-arts subject. A list of piano quintets IS a history of the piano quintet. The ‘role’ of the piano quintet is the same as the ‘role’ of a piano trio, a piano quartet, or a piano sextet, etc. Until it is being called a chamber orchestra (by the composer, let’s say) it is chamber music, generally meaning music for more intimate settings and smaller halls. (Another interesting compositional qualification for chamber music is: No doubling of any of the parts, no matter how many players.) It means the composer had the luxury of knowing there were a few more players available. Or the composer had ideas better suited to the interplay or fullness of more instruments. There may be some tie-in with either patronage (more available money, larger room for an event with music) or the development of commercial halls and a paying audience
The first Piano Quintet was that of Schumann. Piano Quartets had been fairly common earlier, but it was Schumann who added the extra violin in his opus 44, first performed (with Clara at the piano) in 1843 Later to my equally esteemed colleague del_icio – I have to bow to your knowledge, you are indeed correct. The information I gave earlier was told to me many years ago by someone knowlegeable in music and I have always believed it to be true. However, on this matter Jove has clearly nodded.
