While still a student in Berlin, Sibelius was advised to not attempt so major a work as the Piano Quintet, the young composer's pianistic abilities being limited as they were. Sibelius chose to disregard this warning, and the resulting Piano Quintet in G minor is the only major work from this period. It is, however immature it may seem in comparison to the masterworks which would follow, the first work which bears the unmistakable stamp of its creator. Despite the unflattering view that Sibelius' professors took of the work, the great pianist Busoni himself played in the premiere. The Quintet's extended use of tremolo and ostinato helped lead the way towards Sibelius' orchestral method in the coming years.

Like the much later Voces Intimae Quartet, the Piano Quintet uses a five movement blueprint, the first of which is a textbook example of sonata-allegro form. The entire movement develops from a germinal idea first presented by the piano, in which dotted rhythms and triplets are set against each other. This develops into the chromatically descending second theme, and later builds into an effective climax. Sibelius cleverly combines the two themes in the development. Notable in the second movement (titled "Intermezzo") is a fugato section, which is quite skillfully rendered compared to the composer's earlier attempts at contrapuntal part-writing. At the premiere, Sibelius allowed only the first and third movements to be performed, being dissatisfied with the remainder of the Quintet. And indeed, a century later it is these two movements which seem the most rewarding. The songful Andante which serves as the central third movement alternates a somber opening idea (in which the influence of Schubert's famous Death and the Maiden melody is all too apparent) with a march-like idea. The two melodies are skillfully woven together at the movement's end. Least successful of the five movements is the scherzo which at times, despite a zestful approach, crosses the line into tedium and predictability. Cyclical forms, in which important motives from one movement of a work are transported into later movements, were a beacon to Sibelius throughout his career, and this early work is no exception. The last movement builds on the same rhythmic gesture which dominated the first movement. It is a firy rondo form, sadly marred by the poor connective tissue used between the larger sections.

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