The young, reluctant Schumann completed a piano quartet in C minor in March 1829, when he was only 18 years old, while studying in Leipzig, where he was actually studying law. This early work, possibly inspired by Mozart's piano quartet in G minor and clearly influenced by Schubert's Piano Trio No. 2, remained unpublished until 1979, even though it was Schumann's most significant achievement to date and a "remarkably mature work for someone without formal composition training."
It was not until 1842 that Schumann returned to chamber music, creating several large-scale works for various ensembles. He first composed his three string quartets, Op. 41, which were completed by July, followed by the piano quintet, Op. 44, which was written between September and October. The piano quartet was sketched between October 24 and 30 and written in its final form between November 7 and 26. At the end of the manuscript is the inscription "Leipzig, November 26, 1842."
Following the quartet, Schumann composed the Fantasy Pieces for Piano Trio, Op. 88, in December, and between January and February 1843, the Andante and Variations for Two Pianos, French Horn, and Two Cellos, Op. 46. This productive period demonstrates Schumann's growing mastery of chamber music forms and his mature compositional style.
The Piano Quartet in E-flat major, Op. 47, follows in the tradition of the earlier C minor quartet, but is structurally more sophisticated and displays Schumann's developed contrapuntal skills, similar to those found in his Piano Quintet, where he skillfully combines and develops themes, reminiscent of the climactic contrapuntal finales of works such as Mozart's Jupiter Symphony.