Piano Quintet No. 1 (Bloch) Piano Quintet No. 1 (Bloch) Ernest Bloch's Piano Quintet No. 1 is a quintet for piano, 2 violins, viola, and cello. It is regarded as one of Bloch's greatest achievements. Composed in Cleveland in 1923, the work was markedly innovative for its time and has been described as "suffused with tension", and as embodying a "grim, angry, yet ultimately redemptive vision". There are three movements: The work is based around a motto theme built from ascending and descending fourths. The first movement falls roughly into the shape of a sonata allegro, and contrasts material of a grim tone with more
Quintet for clarinet, bass clarinet and string trio (Simpson) Quintet for clarinet, bass clarinet and string trio (Simpson) The Quintet for clarinet, bass clarinet and string trio by Robert Simpson was completed in 1981 and commissioned by Gerald Drucker principal double bass at the Philharmonia Orchestra of London. The first performance was given at the Wigmore Hall in 1981 by the London Double Bass Ensemble and led by Gerald Drucker. Robert Simpson was attracted to the idea of a quintet for the somewhat unusual combination of three double basses, clarinet and bass clarinet, beginning with a passage where the bass trio is actually introduced in harmonics, so that the