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Composed in 1796, this piano quartet from Beethoven's early period began as a quintet for piano, clarinet, oboe, horn, and bassoon. Beethoven transcribed it for piano and strings, and both versions were later published with the same opus number. Melvin Berger suggests that the transcription was a way to make the music more available to the many amateur piano and string groups that were active in Vienna at the time. Homer Ulrich explains in his Chamber Music (2nd edition) that Beethoven's quartet is "an arrangement in the truest sense. Beethoven made only such changes as the new instrumentation required."

Beeri Moalem points out that Beethoven's quintet is modeled on Mozart's 1784 "grand quintet"; these "sister masterpieces" have the same instrumentation, key, and general structure. Both begin with a stately introduction that features dotted rhythms. Each introduction is followed by an allegro; while Mozart's themes are "more defined and well-behaved," Beethoven's "drive relentlessly and energetically through one another. Both allegros feature premature recapitulations (misleading returns in theme but not in key) and significant codas. Both works proceed with a slow movement in B-Flat Major, no minuets, and a Rondo."

In Chamber Music Homer Ulrich agrees that "Op. 16 quintet/quartet is the most Mozartean of Beethoven's early chamber music," but he cautions against drawing too many parallels: "Its vigor, humor, and size remove it from direct comparison. Straightforward in its emotional purposes, perfect in form and texture, richly endowed with satisfying melodies, it represents all that is best of first period Beethoven." In his analysis of the musical form he notes that the Allegro is a fully developed sonata form with three themes; the long melodious Andante follows a "large rondo form" and charms in its beautiful themes, delicate embroideries, and counterpoint; the Finale is fast, brilliant, and full of humor.

In the premier of the quintet on April 6, 1797, Moalem describes how the twenty-seven-year-old Beethoven "in his typical careless unsympathetic arrogance improvised extensively" to the consternation of his fellow performers. The audience was delighted, however, especially when Beethoven later improvised on early versions of his Eroica Symphony.

In his book on chamber music Berger notes that as a composer Schumann tended to cluster his compositions. The years 1831-1839 were devoted to piano pieces; 1840 was the year of songs, and 1841 saw his first symphonies. Chamber music consumed most of 1842. His "household book" reveals that from April 1 to early June he studied the quartets of Mozart, Beethoven, and Haydn. Amazingly, in the last six months he composed six major chamber works: three string quartets Op. 41, the Piano Quintet Op. 44, the Piano Quartet Op. 47, and a trio in A minor, later to be published as Fantasiestücke, Op. 88.

Schumann's Op. 47 begins with a slow introduction; Misah Donat remarks that the introduction's "groping toward the light" reflects Schumann's study of Beethoven's string quartets. Just as Beethoven often does in the late quartets, Schumann brings back the introduction in its original slow tempo at strategic points later in the Allegro -- prior to the development section and as a transition to the coda. The movement is cast in sonata form; the A and B themes offer contrast, and the development section works out the A theme. In a surprising move, Beethoven gives the cello a completely new theme in the coda.

Notes for the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center's recording of the quartet say that the Scherzo "betrays the influence of Mendelssohn in its spookiness." There are two trios, the first arising out of the scherzo's subject, the second, as Donat describes it, "a thoroughly Schumannesque series of sustained, syncopated chords in contrasting registers." After the return of the scherzo, "the music disappears in a puff of smoke."

Berger describes the Andante cantabile as the emotional high point of the quartet. Schumann shapes the melodic contour of the principal theme by using the interval of the seventh, rising and falling, a musical shape often used by other Romantic composers, particularly Liszt and Wagner. The Andante consists of three sections. After a two-measure introduction, the cello sings the highly Romantic principal melody, which is then imitated by the violin. Piano and violin bring the first section to a close. The middle section is a somber interlude, after which viola and cello play the principal theme to complete the movement.

The Finale, in sonata form, demonstrates Schumann's skill in writing contrapuntal music. Fugal writing appears at the beginning, in the development section, and in the recapitulation and coda. Donat points out that the two themes recall earlier movements: the skipping chords of the first theme recall the Scherzo's second trio, and the second theme's lyrical and syncopated phrases in the piano recall one of the variations of the slow movement. The movement's joie de vivre brings the quartet to an energetic conclusion.

Strauss grew up in a musical family; his father, an accomplished horn player, had intensely conservative musical tastes; as a result, until his teens Richard heard only the classics -- Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann, and Mendelssohn. As an adolescent he regularly played chamber music in family recitals and composed two piano trios following the models of Beethoven, Schumann, and Mendelssohn. After finishing a liberal education, Strauss fell under the musical influence of pianist and conductor Hans von Bülow in Berlin. Here he developed a strong interest in the music of Brahms, an influence most evident in the Piano Quartet, Op. 13 (1884).

Brahms's influence is strongly apparent in the first movement's unison opening passages, rich instrumentation, and sonata form. After a brief prelude by the unison strings, the first subject emerges in furious triplets by the piano and in canon by the strings. Characteristic of later Strauss, the second subject is notable for its energy and leaping intervals.

The displaced rhythms of the Scherzo also indicate the influence of Brahms. The movement opens with a scurrying passage in the piano, and the exposition consists of abrupt string passages in reply. One critic observes that the singing trio is composed of a rich melody, full of Viennese influences. After the trio, the opening material returns, fades to nothing, and then surprises with a final flourish to end the movement.

As in the Brahms piano quartets, the Andante is the emotional core of the work. Wolfgang Poduschka describes it as "a lovely flowing movement recalling a Serenade." It draws on broad themes from the first movement, the piano announcing the principal subject, the viola the second. A motif in triplets in the piano and a series of rising figures in the strings add contrapuntal interest.

Louis Reith points out that the Finale brings together elements from earlier movements to unify the quartet structurally. Strauss weaves together the first theme of the Allegro, harmonic ideas from the Scherzo, and descending sixteenth figures from the Andante into a complex contrapuntal pattern. Quick scale passages in the piano herald the quartet's rousing conclusion.

John Noell Moore