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Piano Quartet No. 2 (Brahms)

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Piano Quartet in A major
No. 2
Chamber music by Johannes Brahms
The composer in 1853
Opus26
Composed1861 (1861)
Performed1863
Duration50 minutes
Movementsfour
Scoring
  • violin
  • viola
  • cello
  • piano.

The Piano Quartet No. 2 in A major, Op. 26, by Johannes Brahms is scored for piano, violin, viola and cello. It was completed in 1861[1] and received its premiere in November 1862 by the Hellmesberger Quartet with the composer playing the piano part.[2] It has been especially noted for drawing influence from composer Franz Schubert.[3][1] Lasting approximately 50 minutes, this quartet is the longest of Brahms's chamber works to perform and one of the longest piano quartets in the repertoire. He also made an arrangement of this quartet for two pianos.[4]

Structure

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The quartet is in four movements:

  1. Allegro non troppo (A major)
  2. Poco adagio (E major)
  3. Scherzo: Poco allegro (A major, trio in D minor)
  4. Finale: Allegro (A major)

Analysis

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First movement

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The first movement is in sonata form.

Second movement

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The second movement is in rondo form.

Third movement

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The third movement is a scherzo and trio in compound ternary form, where both the scherzo and the trio are in sonata form.

Fourth movement

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The fourth movement is in sonata-rondo form.

References

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  1. ^ a b "Johannes Brahms – Piano Quartet No.2 in A, Op.26". Classical Archives. Retrieved 2012-08-19.
  2. ^ "Brahms: Piano Quartets –CD – CDA67471/2 – Johannes Brahms (1833–1897)". Hyperion Records. Retrieved 2012-08-19.
  3. ^ LA Phil (2012-05-14). "Piano Quartet No. 2 in A major, Op. 26". LA Phil. Archived from the original on 2014-11-08. Retrieved 2012-08-19.
  4. ^ "Celebrating Maureen Jones". Musica Viva Australia. 31 August 2017. Retrieved 20 January 2020.
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