String Quintet Archives - Benjamin Pesetsky

August 24, 2019 by Benjamin Pesetsky

Felix Mendelssohn: String Quintet No. 1 in A major, Op. 18

Mendelssohn wrote the String Quintet No. 1 in 1826 at 17 years old, revising it six years later with a new slow movement dedicated to the memory of Eduard Rietz, a close friend who had died of tuberculosis.

August 10, 2019 by Benjamin Pesetsky

Johannes Brahms: String Quintet No. 2 in G major, Op. 111

It would make sense for a viola quintet to start with the violas—but no, Brahms has the cello dive in with a wild solo across most of its range, springing across strings and punctuating with rolled chords, all while the other instruments gleam together above.