Piano Quintet (Shostakovich)

The Piano Quintet, 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 of the same year. It was written for the Beethoven String Quartet 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.

The quintet is in five movements:

1. Prelude: Lento
2. Fugue: Adagio
3. Scherzo: Allegretto
4. Imtermezzo: Lento
5. Finale: Allegretto