String Quintet No. 2 (Mendelssohn)

String Quintet
No. 2
by Felix Mendelssohn
Portrait of Mendelssohn
by Eduard Magnus, 1846
KeyB-flat major
Opus87
Composed1845 (1845)
Published1851 (1851)
Movements4
Scoring
  • 2 violins
  • 2 violas
  • cello

The String Quintet No. 2 in B♭ major, Op. 87, was composed by Felix Mendelssohn in 1845, when Mendelssohn was around 36 years old. The piece is scored for two violins, two violas and cello.

Movements

Like all of Mendelssohn's string quartets, this work has four movements:

  1. Allegro vivace
  2. Andante scherzando
  3. Adagio e lento
  4. Allegro molto vivace

A typical performance lasts just under 30 minutes.

It was published posthumously in 1851 (described by its first publisher, Breitkopf und Härtel, as No. 16 der nachgelassenen Werke.)