Ralph Vaughan Williams

Piano Quintet In C Minor (1903)

The 'Piano Quintet in C' is a substantial and superbly written work lasting some 30 minutes. The first movement, marked Allegro con fuoco, is expansive, loquacious and filled with late romantic passion, its harmonies Brahmsian for the most part but tinged with modality in the quieter passages. The expressive romantic melody of the Andante second movement is fully characteristic of the composer and resembles the song Silent Noon that he composed in the same year. The finale is a set of five well-differentiated variations, ending with a beautiful bell-like coda. This work was written in 1903.