by Layne Anspach
Hello musicians!
The next quintet for piano and winds that we will explore is Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s Quintet in B-flat major for Piano and Winds (1876). As a well-known composer, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s (1844-1908) biography is easily accessible, and so I will only highlight a limited biographical background. He was part of “The Five,” a group of Russian composers which was strongly against formal training. Rimsky-Korsakov derailed his relationship with “The Five” when he accepted a position at the St. Petersburg Conservatory in 1871. He wrote a wide range of works and composed several notable transcriptions and arrangements.
In 1876, Rimsky-Korsakov wrote the Quintet in B-flat major for a competition, in addition to his Sextet for strings. While the sextet received an award, the quintet did not fare as well. Rimsky-Korsakov, as he noted in his autobiography, claimed that the musicians assigned to perform his work were inferior to those who were assigned to the winning piece. To back up his claim, he noted that a later performance of the quintet at a St. Petersburg Chamber Music Society concert was to “the pleasure of the audience.”
The first movement of the Quintet is marked Allegro con brio and is in sonata form. The movement starts with a repetitive eighth note pattern in the piano with bassoon playing the melody. After an ensemble tutti, the piano carries on alone, building momentum. The second theme features winds alone, eventually incorporating the piano. The development features the first theme in various keys, first with horn then followed by other winds. The recapitulation begins as expected, but the second theme is altered, featuring only the piano, then the bassoon enters to replace the flute. The Poco piu mosso pushes the coda to an energetic conclusion.
The second movement, Andante, features a typical Russian compositional technique where a melodic phrase is repeated while changing the harmonic background. The horn presents the theme throughout while the winds and piano provide the harmonic variations. This technique results in a fair amount of repetition, but a close listen to the changes is a rewarding experience. In this movement, Rimsky-Korsakov incorporates an attractive fugue in b-flat minor.
The third and final movement, Rondo: Allegretto, is supported by a bassoon ostinato throughout which gives a bouncing, playful feel. Atypical of the other movements, Rimsky-Korsakov includes a lengthy fugue for piano alone. An Agitato follows, led by the clarinet and then horn, adding a brooding character which contrasts the more playful sections. If there wasn’t already enough happening in this movement, Rimsky-Korsakov features cadenzas for all voices except bassoon. The bassoon brightens the mood with the final return of the primary theme. Piu vivo and the subsequent Vivace push the entire work to a dramatic conclusion carried by the piano.
The reference recording features hornist Radovan Vlatković.
