Piano Quintet (Shostakovich) Piano Quintet (Shostakovich) The Piano Quintet in G Minor, opus 57, by Dmitri Shostakovich is one of his best-known chamber works. Like most piano quintets, it is written for piano and string quartet (two violins, viola and cello). Shostakovich began work on the piece in the summer of 1940 and completed it on September 14. It was written for the Beethoven Quartet, as were most of his string quartets, and premiered by them with Shostakovich himself at the piano on November 23, 1940 at the Moscow Conservatory, to great success. In 1941, it was awarded the Stalin Prize. A typical
String section or violas. Richard Strauss' "Elektra" (1909) and "Josephslegende", the third movement of Shostakovich's Symphony No. 5 and some of George Handel's coronation anthems, are notable examples of the violins being divided threefold. "String section" is also used to describe a group of bowed string instruments used in rock, pop, jazz and commercial music. In this context the size and composition of the string section is less standardised, and usually smaller, than a classical complement. String section The string section is composed of bowed instruments belonging to the violin family. It normally consists of first and second violins, violas, cellos, and