The idea of Anton Bruckner as a composer of chamber music may seem inconceivable to those given to quick misjudgment. His String Quintet of 1879, his sole mature chamber work, shows that Bruckner was completely at ease and eloquent in the medium. Created between the Fifth and Sixth symphonies, the music seems to be striving for orchestral utterance in only a few spots (if that can even be considered a flaw). Otherwise, the composer completely integrated his characteristic vernacular into the chamber idiom in this concise and well-crafted work.

The main theme of the first movement is more lyrical and searching than a typical Bruckner opening, making the work a cousin to the Seventh Symphony in that regard. The theme is passed from one instrument to the next until a typical Brucknerian octave unison evolves. The second subject is a characteristic "Gesangperiode," less Austrian in flavor than Bruckner's other music of this type. A leisurely expansive development follows, including Bruckner's favored device of theme inversion. The recapitulation is telescoped, as was the composer's wont in later works, and a characteristic reiterative coda closes the movement. The scherzo comes second, as in the last two symphonies, and is quite unlike any other by Bruckner. It combines an elfin spirit with the rhythm of the composer's beloved Ländler. The trio section is yet another curiosity for Bruckner—it is in the style of an old-fashioned minuet, even if the composer's modern modulations peer through the eighteenth century framework.

The third movement again seems to inhabit the world of the Seventh Symphony, with many of its turns of phrase and cadences recalling the later work's adagio; yet overall a solid peacefulness diverges from the mournfulness of the Seventh's slow movement. The second theme continues this serene and reflective spirit, recalling the corresponding theme in the Third Symphony's adagio. The two themes are woven into an elaborate tapestry of development. A gypsy-like descent of sixteenth notes leads to a more plaintive transformation of the second theme; the opening is recalled once more before the calm of the lulling coda. The finale gives ample proof that conciseness was not beyond Bruckner's capabilities when it suited what he needed to say. The first subject is highly animated and motive-derived rather than thematic. A striking transition which seems to flirt with atonality leads to the second theme, another typical "Gesangperiode." The rhythmic third subject features stark, angular counterpoint, anticipating that of the first movement of the Sixth Symphony. The development is leisurely, focusing on the more lyrical elements of the exposition. There is only the faintest suggestion of a recapitulation, with the earlier themes fleetingly referred to. In the coda is there a tendency to break through to an orchestral utterance; one can hear echoes of the symphony's final measures. This concluding gesture notwithstanding, the work inspires speculation as to what Bruckner might have accomplished further in the chamber-music vein.

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