Piano Quintet in G minor, Op. 57
by Dmitri Shostakovich
Composed in 1940 and awarded the Stalin Prize the following year, the Piano Quintet is widely regarded as Shostakovich's chamber masterpiece. Its five movements — Prelude, Fugue, Scherzo, Intermezzo, and Finale — range from neo-Baroque austerity to sardonic wit and deep lyricism. The slow fugue of the second movement and the desolate Intermezzo are among the most emotionally searching pages Shostakovich ever wrote. The composer himself performed the piano part at the premiere.
Editions
Sikorski
Editorial staff, 1947
First Western edition, long the standard performance text in Europe. Based on the original Soviet publication.
DSCH Publishers
Manashir Yakubov, 2004
Critical edition from the Complete Collected Works, collating all autograph and published sources with full critical commentary.
Boosey & Hawkes
Editorial staff, 1960
Widely distributed English-language study score edition, useful for score-reading alongside recordings.