quintets

Quintet is a term used to describe a group or set of five items. The word comes from Latin quintus, meaning fifth, and is used across various fields to denote five components that are considered together. In everyday language and in specialized contexts, a quintet can refer to both a collection of five individuals and a musical or formal grouping of five participants.

In music, a quintet typically refers to a musical ensemble of five players or singers, or to a work composed for such a group. There are several common formations. A string quintet usually comprises two violins, a viola, and two cellos; a wind quintet uses flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, and horn; a brass quintet generally includes two trumpets, a French horn, a trombone, and a tuba; a piano quintet features a piano plus a string quartet. Jazz and other genres also perform as quintets, and the repertoire ranges from early to contemporary works, including original quintets and arranged pieces.

Outside music, quintet can denote any ordered five-tuple or five-member group in other disciplines, such as mathematics where a quintet may refer to a five-element sequence, or to a general grouping of five individuals or items treated as a unit. The term contrasts with smaller or larger groupings such as quartet or sextet and is used wherever a five-part grouping is relevant.