Written for piano, violin, viola and cello, this is a fragmentary work, composed while Mahler was still a student at the Vienna Conservatory. One of a number of chamber works he composed between 1875 and 1883, the manuscript of the Piano Quartet is the only one to have survived. It consists of a complete first movement in A minor and a twenty-four-measure sketch for a Scherzo in G minor. The Scherzo may or may not belong with the complete movement, but as the manuscripts were contained in the same folder, they are usually grouped together.

There is little here that sounds like Mahler the great symphonist. We are reminded more of Schumann or Brahms. In spite of its derivative style, not surprising for a sixteen-year-old student, the Quartet is an effective work. The A minor movement, in sonata form, is based on three contrasting themes. These are not particularly notable, but are developed skillfully if not imaginatively. An unusual feature is that the first two themes, normally in contrasting keys in sonata form, are in the same key here. Mahler seems to attempt to compensate for this with the many modulations of the third theme, which otherwise is the least interesting of the three. Probably the most original feature of the movement is an unusual and surprisingly effective violin cadenza just before the coda. Although there are moments of excitement as well as beauty, the Quartet relies a great deal on the opening theme, and after a while its many repetitions can become tiresome. Likewise the piano writing, while idiomatic and effective, relies almost exclusively on repeated chords and simple arpeggios. Overall, the A minor movement shows more academic skill than originality, which should not be unexpected in a student work.

The G minor Scherzo, in a lively 6/8 meter, initially shows the same traits as the A minor movement, but is too short and fragmentary for consideration.

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