The Gaudier Ensemble - Dvorak: Piano Quintet & String Quintet

The two works recorded here come from different periods in Dvorak�s career. In the String Quintet in G he dispenses with a second viola, instead placing a double bass beneath the single cello, but textural richness is not the composer�s aim: one can listen to passages of the work without sensing any pointed differences from quartet texture.Similarly, the success of the Piano Quintet in A rests on its happy reconciliation of forces. Dvorak�s early attempts at composing for the piano had been hampered by his own lack of familiarity with the instrument, but in this work he achieves a remarkable fluency, with five instruments operating as consistent equals and in harmonious unity and balance.