Zdeněk Fibich (Dec. 21, 1850 - Oct. 15, 1900) was a Czech composer and pianist. Having a Czech father and German Viennese mother, Fibich grew up bilingual. Because of his father's work (a forestry official), he spent a lot of time moving around and living on various wooded estates, and the woods would become a source of inspiration for some of his compositions. 

Fibich was home schooled til he was nine years old, and then spent time in a German school, then a Czech school until he went to the Leipzig Conservatory when he was 15 to study piano and composition, and later on studied in Paris. Because of his culturally varied background, his compositions don't sound as Czech centered as other composers like Dvorak or Smetana; if anything, they sound more German Romantic in style.

His Quintet was written in 1893, and can be for two  different instrumentations: piano, violin, clarinet, horn, and cello, or piano, two violins, viola, and cello.  The first movement, marked Allegro non tanto is warm and cheerful, with all the instruments at some point sharing the melody. The second movement, Largo, is much more serene yet at times the melody is intense, and passionate. The third movement, an energetic and fun Scherzo, has a whiff of Schubert about it, and the last movement, Allegro con spirito is joyous and hopeful. This quintet works well not just because of Fibich's writing, but also the combination of the instruments, particularly in the wind version; the instruments blend and balance each other out in a very pleasing way.

Here are some recordings of this lovely work for you to enjoy!

Suk Quartet and Radoslav Kvapil
Marián Lapšanský, Ludmila Peterková, Vladimíra Klánská, Jiří Panocha, and Jaroslav Kulhan