A special birthday present to his wife became Schickele's String Quintet, premiered in 1998 by the Armadillo String Quartet and Roland Kato (viola). Upon hearing the work, Schickele considered it to be too long, It outstayed its welcome. His solution was to split the original five sections into two separate quintets, adding new material to complete the second set. Today, String Quintet No. 1 consists of the movements Pastorale, Requiem, and Dance Music from the original. Schickele says, Like Einstein, I'm a great believer in the conservation of matter and energy. For advanced performers. (Manuscript)