Piano sextet
Encyclopedia
A piano sextet is a composition for piano
and five other musical instruments, or a group of six musicians who perform such works. There is no standard grouping of instruments with that name, and compared to the string quartet
or piano quintet
literature, relatively few such compositions exist. The best-known piano sextet is probably Chausson's Concert, widely regarded as one of the masterpieces of the French chamber music literature (for example, the critic Jean Gallois describes it as "superb").
The following is an incomplete list of piano sextet composers and their works in this genre:
Closely related forms of chamber music include the piano trio
, the piano quartet
and the piano quintet
.
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
and five other musical instruments, or a group of six musicians who perform such works. There is no standard grouping of instruments with that name, and compared to the string quartet
String quartet
A string quartet is a musical ensemble of four string players – usually two violin players, a violist and a cellist – or a piece written to be performed by such a group...
or piano quintet
Piano quintet
In European classical music, a piano quintet is a work of chamber music written for piano and four other instruments, most commonly piano, two violins, viola, and cello . Among the most frequently performed piano quintets are those by Robert Schumann, Johannes Brahms, César Franck, Antonín Dvořák...
literature, relatively few such compositions exist. The best-known piano sextet is probably Chausson's Concert, widely regarded as one of the masterpieces of the French chamber music literature (for example, the critic Jean Gallois describes it as "superb").
The following is an incomplete list of piano sextet composers and their works in this genre:
- Ernest ChaussonErnest ChaussonAmédée-Ernest Chausson was a French romantic composer who died just as his career was beginning to flourish.-Life:Ernest Chausson was born in Paris into a prosperous bourgeois family...
(1855 - 1899), Concert in D major, Op. 21, composed 1891, for piano, violin, and string quartet - Aaron CoplandAaron CoplandAaron Copland was an American composer, composition teacher, writer, and later in his career a conductor of his own and other American music. He was instrumental in forging a distinctly American style of composition, and is often referred to as "the Dean of American Composers"...
(1900 - 1990), Sextet, composed 1938, for piano, clarinet, and string quartet - Ernő DohnányiErno DohnányiErnő Dohnányi was a Hungarian conductor, composer, and pianist. He used the German form of his name Ernst von Dohnányi for most of his published compositions....
, Sextet for string trio, clarinet, horn, and piano - Mikhail GlinkaMikhail GlinkaMikhail Ivanovich Glinka , was the first Russian composer to gain wide recognition within his own country, and is often regarded as the father of Russian classical music...
(1804 - 1857)- Grand Sextet (Sestetto originale) in E-flat major, composed 1832, for piano, string quartet, and double bass
- Serenade (Divertimento brillante) on Themes from Bellini's La SonnambulaLa sonnambulaLa sonnambula is an opera semiseria in two acts, with music in the bel canto tradition by Vincenzo Bellini to an Italian libretto by Felice Romani, based on a scenario for a ballet-pantomime by Eugène Scribe and Jean-Pierre Aumer called La somnambule, ou L'arrivée d'un nouveau seigneur.The first...
in A-flat major, composed 1832, for piano, string quartet, and double bass
- Gordon JacobGordon JacobGordon Percival Septimus Jacob was an English composer. He is known for his wind instrument composition and his instructional writings.-Life:...
(1895 - 1984), Sextet in B-flat major, composed 1956, for piano and wind quintet - Bohuslav MartinůBohuslav MartinuBohuslav Martinů was a prolific Czech composer of modern classical music. He was of Czech and Rumanian ancestry. Martinů wrote six symphonies, 15 operas, 14 ballet scores and a large body of orchestral, chamber, vocal and instrumental works. Martinů became a violinist in the Czech Philharmonic...
(1890 - 1959)- ballet, La Revue de cuisine, composed 1927, for piano, violin, cello, clarinet, bassoon, and trumpet
- Piano Sextet, composed 1929, for piano, flute, oboe, clarinet, and two bassoons
- Felix MendelssohnFelix MendelssohnJakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Barthóldy , use the form 'Mendelssohn' and not 'Mendelssohn Bartholdy'. The Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians gives ' Felix Mendelssohn' as the entry, with 'Mendelssohn' used in the body text...
(1809 - 1847), Piano Sextet in D major, Op. 110Piano Sextet (Mendelssohn)Felix Mendelssohn's Piano Sextet in D major, Op. 110, for piano, violin, two violas, cello, and double bass was composed in May 1824. The work has four movements:# Allegro vivace# Adagio# Menuetto# Allegro vivaceA typical performance lasts 30 minutes....
, composed 1824, for piano, violin, two violas, cello, and double bass - Krzysztof PendereckiKrzysztof PendereckiKrzysztof Penderecki , born November 23, 1933 in Dębica) is a Polish composer and conductor. His 1960 avant-garde Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima for string orchestra brought him to international attention, and this success was followed by acclaim for his choral St. Luke Passion. Both these...
, Sextet for string trio, clarinet, horn, and piano - Francis PoulencFrancis PoulencFrancis Jean Marcel Poulenc was a French composer and a member of the French group Les six. He composed solo piano music, chamber music, oratorio, choral music, opera, ballet music, and orchestral music...
(1899 - 1963), Sextet, composed 1939, for piano and wind quintetWind quintetA wind quintet, also sometimes known as a woodwind quintet, is a group of five wind players . The term also applies to a composition for such a group.... - Sergei ProkofievSergei ProkofievSergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor who mastered numerous musical genres and is regarded as one of the major composers of the 20th century...
(1891 - 1953), Overture on Hebrew Themes in C minor, Op. 34, for piano, clarinet, and string quartet - Ludwig ThuilleLudwig ThuilleLudwig Thuille was a German composer and teacher, numbered for a while among the leading operatic composers of the 'Munich School', whose most famous representative was Richard Strauss.-Biography:...
(1861-1907), Sextet in B-flat, Op. 6, for piano and wind quintet - Felix WeingartnerFelix WeingartnerPaul Felix von Weingartner, Edler von Münzberg was an Austrian conductor, composer and pianist.-Biography:...
Sextet Op.33; for piano, two violins, viola, violoncello and double bass
Closely related forms of chamber music include the piano trio
Piano trio
A piano trio is a group of piano and two other instruments, usually a violin and a cello, or a piece of music written for such a group. It is one of the most common forms found in classical chamber music...
, the piano quartet
Piano quartet
In European classical music, piano quartet denotes a chamber music composition for piano and three other instruments, or a musical ensemble comprising such instruments...
and the piano quintet
Piano quintet
In European classical music, a piano quintet is a work of chamber music written for piano and four other instruments, most commonly piano, two violins, viola, and cello . Among the most frequently performed piano quintets are those by Robert Schumann, Johannes Brahms, César Franck, Antonín Dvořák...
.