Piano Quintet in E♭ major, Op. 44

Schumann's Piano Quintet Op. 44 (1842) was the first major Romantic piano quintet and effectively created the genre. Composed in a single burst of creative energy during his "chamber music year" of 1842, the work combines the piano's brilliance with the warmth of the string quartet in an unprecedented way. The opening Allegro brillante is magnificent in its broad, singing themes; the "In modo d'una marcia" second movement is one of Schumann's greatest slow movements, eerily foreboding; the scherzo is exhilarating; and the finale ends with a remarkable double fugue. Brahms reportedly said it changed his understanding of what a piano quintet could be.