A piano sextet is a composition for
piano and five other musical instruments, or a group of six musicians who perform such works. There is no standard grouping of instruments with that name, and compared to the
string quartet or
piano quintet literature, relatively few such compositions exist. The best-known piano sextet is probably the Sextet by
Poulenc, one of the pinnacles of the wind and piano repertoire.
Chausson's Concert is widely regarded as one of the masterpieces of French strings and piano chamber music literature (for example, the critic Jean Gallois describes it as "superb").
The following is an incomplete list of piano sextet composers and their works in this genre:
Grand Sextet (Sestetto originale) in E-flat major, composed 1832, for piano,
string quartet, and double bass
Serenade (Divertimento brillante) on Themes from Bellini's La Sonnambula in A-flat major, composed 1832, for piano,
string quartet, and double bass
Hans Huber (1852-1921) Sextet in B-flat major, composed 1898, for piano and
wind quintet
Vincent d'Indy (1851-1931), Sarabande et Menuet, Op. 72 for piano and
wind quintet, arranged 1918 by the composer from his earlier Suite dans le style ancien, Op. 24 (1886) for 2 flutes, trumpet and
string quartet