String quintet in 17th century Italy and can be seen as early as 1607 in Claudio Monteverdi's opera, "L'Orfeo". It can also be applied to the standard five-part orchestral string section: first violins, second violins, violas, cellos, and double basses. String quintet A string quintet is a musical composition for five string players. As an extension to the string quartet (two violins, a viola, and a cello), a string quintet includes a fifth string instrument, usually a second viola (a so-called "viola quintet") or a second cello (a "cello quintet"), or occasionally a double bass. Notable examples of classic "viola quintets", in
String Quintet (Bruckner) the frequent use of Sesto in the Ländler-like eighth-note of the first viola, which is due to the line of the second violin and the violoncello of the first part and refers directly to the trio in Scherzo. An airy counterpart of the first violin pushes playfully unstoppable upwards. The actual implementation theme becomes the starting point of a fugue whose theme is contrasted with a striking triplet figure. Finally, the recapitulation follows in D flat major. The coda is a jubilant conclusion. Josef Hellmesberger, on whose initiative the creation of the string quintet went back, rejected the Scherzo originally