View source for Piano Quintet No. 1 (Bloch)

[[Ernest Bloch]]'s '''Piano Quintet No. 1''' is a [[piano quintet|quintet]] for [[piano]], 2 [[violin]]s, [[viola]], and [[cello]]. It is regarded as one of Bloch's greatest achievements.<ref name="Simmons2004">{{cite book|author=Walter Simmons|title=Voices in the Wilderness: Six American Neo-Romantic Composers|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yOWB3j8p2WsC&pg=PA68|accessdate=23 November 2012|date=1 February 2004|publisher=Scarecrow Press|isbn=978-0-8108-4884-9|pages=68–}}</ref>
Composed in [[Cleveland]] in 1923, the work was markedly innovative for its time<ref name="Smallman1996">{{cite book|author=Basil Smallman|author-link=Basil Smallman|title=The Piano Quartet and Quintet: Style, Structure, and Scoring|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7TzEBCIO8sgC&pg=PA127|accessdate=23 November 2012|date=14 November 1996|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-816640-5|page=127}}</ref> and has been described as "suffused with tension",<ref>{{cite web
| title = Bloch: Piano quintets 1 & 2/Kocian
| url = http://www.classicstoday.com/review/review-9806/
| publisher = classicstoday.com
| accessdate =
}}</ref> and as embodying a "grim, angry, yet ultimately redemptive vision".<ref name="Simmons2004"/>
== Structure ==
There are three [[movement (music)|movements]]:
#''[[Tempo#Mood markings with a tempo connotation|Agitato]]''
#''[[Tempo#Basic tempo markings|Andante]] mistico''
#''[[Tempo#Basic tempo markings|Allegro]] [[Tempo#Mood markings with a tempo connotation|energico]]''.
The work is based around a [[Leitmotif|motto theme]] built from ascending and descending [[Perfect fourth|fourths]]. The first movement falls roughly into the shape of a [[Sonata form|sonata allegro]], and contrasts material of a grim tone with more mysterious, reflective moments. The second movement is mournful and builds to a huge climax before fading away. The final movement is more rhapsodic in nature contrasting reflective and energetic passages, before ending on a perfect [[Cadence (music)|cadence]] with a sense of serene resolution.<ref name="Simmons2004"/> The work is notable for its frequent use of [[quarter tone]]s.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Piano Quartet and Quintet: Style, Structure, and Scoring|last=Smallman|first=Basil|publisher=Clarendon Press |year=1996 |isbn=0198166400 |location=|pages=153}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=Chamber Music: An Extensive Guide for Listeners|last=Murray|first=Lucy Miller |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |year=2015|isbn=978-1442243439|location=|pages=80}}</ref>
== Recordings ==
Notable historical recordings:
* The first recording was by the [[Pro Arte Quartet]] with [[Alfredo Casella]] in 1933.<ref>[http://proartequartet.org/PressPage/ProArte_History.pdf Pro Arte Quartet -PDF]</ref>
* [[Quintetto Chigiano]]: Riccardo Brengola, violin; Mario Benvenuti, violin II; Giovanni Leone, viola; Lino Filippini, cello; Sergio Lorenzi, piano (Decca LXT2626 - 1951)
== References ==
{{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Piano Quintet No. 1 (Bloch)}}
[[Category:Chamber music by Ernest Bloch]]
[[Category:Compositions for piano quintet|Bloch 1]]
[[Category:1923 compositions]]