Chamber Music
Chamber Music
Chamber Music
The trio sonata was very popular during the Baroque period. Many Baroque trio
sonatas were written for two violins (or recorders, flute or oboe) plus continuo.
Listen! - Haydns String Quartet in E flat, Op. 33 No. 2 final movement It is marked
presto and all instruments have independent parts
The string quartet was by far the most popular chamber music combination
during the Classical and Romantic periods.
Some composers wrote string quintets which are string quartets plus an extra
viola, cello or double bass. One of the most famous string quintets is Schuberts
String Quintet in C which has two cellos.
Schuberts Trout Quintet is a piano quintet written for piano, violin, viola, cello
and double bass. The fourth movement is based on the lied Die Forelle (the
trout)
Listen!
Piano quintets were composed less frequently, but Mozart and Beethoven both
wrote piano quintets for piano, oboe, clarinet, horn and bassoon.
The first wind quintets (flute, oboe, clarinet, French horn and bassoon) were
written during the Classical period and composers still write for the combination.
Listen to this passage from the first of Ligetis Six Bagatelles for wind quintet
Listen!