We all grew up on the monumental piano quintets of the past – such thrilling music. But as I began to write a piano quintet myself, ‘the way in’ eluded me. I kept thinking, a piano and a string quartet need e ach other like a hole in the head. Why combine them anyway? I looked to the masters for inspiration and along the way became convinced that even they had grappled with this question. Perhaps it was no coincidence that Schumann, Brahms, Dvořák, Franck, Elgar, Shostakovich and Carter had each...