Some mark the beginning of Bax's maturity as a composer with the Piano Quintet, due both to its substantial size and to Bax's handling of tonal and melodic material. The piece took shape quickly, and three days after Bax completed the first movement, on July 16, 1914, the second movement was finished. The outbreak of the First World War distracted the composer, and he did not complete the finale until April 13, 1915.

An "unofficial" performance of the Piano Quintet took place at the Savoy Hotel in London on December 19, 1917, with the English String Quartet and pianist Harriet Cohen, with whom the composer was having an affair. A "formal" premiere took place after the war, on May 12, 1920, given by Fanny Davies and the Bohemian Quartet. Bax dedicated the piece to his friend Edwin Evans, whom he had met through the Society of British Composers.

In the Piano Quintet, Bax's writing verges on the symphonic. Powerful strokes for both the strings and piano occur throughout, and we hear numerous passages of rapid, chromatic sixteenth notes that look forward to the composer's tone poems for orchestra. Also, sudden, unpredictable moments of pensive quiet suggest similar gestures in the symphonies. Bax evokes as much color as possible from the strings, writing passages to be played pizzicato, col legno, sul ponticello, and with mutes.

In three movements—"Passionate and Rebellious," "Slow and Serious" and "Moderate Tempo"—the Piano Quintet is filled with illustrative directions and performance indications such as "dull and expressionless," "not humorous," "distant and smothered," and "precipitately." Such markings likewise appear in the later symphonic works.

After opening with a frenetic wash of piano sound, the first movement begins con passione with an arching theme for the cello. A rhythmically driven secondary idea provides contrast, as does a later, lyrical melody, marked, "singing softly." This is not the last we hear of these melodies.

At the midpoint of the second movement, the piano begins a Celtic song, accompanied by pizzicato chords on the strings. Lacking the passion of the first movement, the second occasionally evokes the sound of Bax's Garden of Fand.

Another of Bax's priceless character markings appears at the beginning of the finale as the tremolo right hand of the piano part rumbles over low notes in the left hand, with the instruction "vague." Themes from the first movement appear transformed, notably the secondary theme, which here becomes a frenzied dance. Just before the climax, the third theme from the first movement sounds, ushering in the return of the first theme. In the development and recapitulation, these ideas are further transformed, vanishing as the extended coda, marked Lento con gran' espressione, begins. The weight and length of the coda make it function as an epilogue to the entire piece. The cold, morose atmosphere of the finale may reflect Bax's reaction to the onset of war in August 1914.

© John Palmer, Rovi