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- Dvořák: String Quartet No. 12 "American" It's no wonder Antonin Dvořák's "American" quartet topped our list — it embodies his compositional style from his stay in America, where he encountered musical influences from all across the country.
- Schubert: Piano Quintet in A major, "Trout Quintet" Franz Schubert's "Trout Quintet" gets its name from the fourth movement, which is based on variations of his lied by the same name.
- Beethoven: Piano Trio No. 7 "Archduke" The composer was the pianist at the premiere of his "Archduke" piano trio, and it was one of his final performances due to his increasing deafness.
- Mozart: Clarinet Quintet in A major. One of the best-known and earlier pieces written for clarinet, W.A. Mozart's Clarinet Quintet was written for the clarinetist Anton Stadler.
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chamber music, music composed for small ensembles of instrumentalists. In its original sense, chamber music referred to music composed for the home, as opposed to that written for the theatre or church. Since the “home”—whether it be drawing room, reception hall, or palace chamber—may be assumed to be of limited size, chamber music most often permits no more than one player to a part. It usually dispenses with a conductor. Music written for combinations of stringed or wind instruments, often with a keyboard (piano or harpsichord) as well, and music for voices with or without accompaniment have historically been included in the term.
An essential characteristic of chamber music results from the limited size of the performing group employed: it is intimate music, suited to the expression of subtle and refined musical ideas. Rich displays of varied instrumental colour, and striking effects produced by sheer sonority, play little part in chamber music. In place of those effects are refinement, economy of resources, and flawless acoustical balance.
Instrumental music designed for home use has existed since about the middle of the 15th century. It became customary in Germany to supply folk-song melodies with two or three countermelodies, to expand and elaborate the whole, and to arrange the result for groups of instruments; original melodies were given similar treatment. The instruments were not often specified, but on the basis of many paintings of the time one may assume that groups of viols of various sizes predominated.
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A more important source of later chamber music is to be found in the arrangements of 16th-century chansons (songs of French origin composed usually for four voices on a variety of secular texts), some for voices and lute, others for lute alone. The typical chanson was characterized by contrasts in musical texture and often in metre; the effect of the whole was that of a short composition in several even shorter sections. That sectional form retained in the arrangements later became a striking feature.
The chanson travelled to Italy about 1525, became known as canzona, and was transcribed for organ. The earliest transcriptions differed from the French arrangements in treating the original chanson with greater freedom, adding ornaments and flourishes, and sometimes inserting new material. Soon original canzonas for organ, modelled on the transcriptions, and for small instrumental ensembles, were composed. One such type, characterized by elaborate figurations and ornamented melodies, became influential in England late in the 17th century and played a role in the works of Henry Purcell.
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Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a palace chamber or a large room.
Chamber music refers to music that was played in someone's home rather than in a church or theatre. Oliver Heath discusses the string quartet before the Heath Quartet perform "String...
Aug 9, 2021 · Chamber Music Guide: A Brief History of Chamber Music. Written by MasterClass. Last updated: Aug 9, 2021 • 6 min read. The great masters of classical music—such as Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, and Brahms—did not merely compose music for large symphony orchestras. They also wrote chamber music for smaller ensembles.
Apr 22, 2024 · Chamber music is the logical evolution of instrumental music that was initially composed and played for home use, during parties, dinners, and other intimate gatherings. In the middle of the 15 th century, German musicians started to manipulate folk melodies by expanding them through a few countermelodies so a group of instruments could play them.
Oct 25, 2022 · Bach X Chamber music, what a combination! Get ready for some of the best compositions by J. S. Bach, performed by the new wave of chamber musicians, Capella Savaria, and Zsolt Kalló, along...
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