String quintet
A
string quintet is an ensemble of five
string instrument players or a piece written for such a combination. The most common combinations in
classical music are two violins, two violas and
cello or two violins, viola and two cellos. The second cello is occasionally replaced by a
double bass, as in
Antonin Dvorak's quintet.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart pioneered writing for a
string quartet augmented by a second viola, and one outstanding masterpiece for the two-cellos quintet is
Franz Schubert's Quintet in C major.