You never know who you're going to meet on the internet and I came to know Peter Tibbles ( bio here ) via email over the past couple of years. His extensive knowledge of most genres of music and his excellent taste became apparent only gradually (Peter's not one to toot his horn) but once I understood, I knew he needed his own column at Time Goes By - or, better, that TGB needed his column - which appears here each Sunday. You can find previous Elder Music columns here .
Chamber Music or Room Music, if you prefer, is music that's played in a room. Who'd a thought that?
Of course, most classical music is played in a room of some kind, but I'm talking of a specific type of music. This is music played by few people.
The string quartet is the best known, but the number of players can be anywhere from three to eight or so. More than that and we're starting to become an orchestra of some kind, fewer and we'd have to call it a sonata.
Because of its intimate nature, chamber music has been described as "the music of friends." A lot of chamber music is still played by amateurs and even professional players often like to get together informally to play this type of music.
We'll start with the main man, the inventor of chamber music and in particular, the string quartet, JOSEPH HAYDN.
Papa Jo wrote a bunch of string quartets, 78 according to Hoboken's catalogue, although five or six of those are considered spurious. Well, spuriously attributed to Haydn that is. Anyway, I had no intention of going with one of those.
Very early in his career, Jo was often invited to Baron von Fürnberg's castle. There, he'd get into an impromptu jam session with the Baron's steward, a priest and a local cellist. The Baron asked for some new music for them to play and the string quartet was born.
We'll go right back to the beginning if opus numbers are any indication. This is opus 0. It seems that this quartet was included in early editions of opus 1, however, it was lost for a long time until its manuscript was discovered in the 1930s and they decided to make it opus 0.
I don't know what would happen if they found any even earlier one. Opus minus 1 perhaps? This is the fourth movement of the String Quartet in E flat major, Op 0.
GEORG PHILIPP TELEMANN wrote a lot of chamber music of all kinds.
The one I'm interested in today is one of the "Paris" quartets. Georg visited Paris because of copyright violations; there were unauthorised collections of his quartets doing the rounds. He soon put a stop to that and issued them under his own name.
However, his quartets were already so popular in the city that he hung around for months enjoying the acclaim and patronage of the musical public.
These quartets are an interesting mix of instruments – violin, harpsichord, viola da gamba and flute. This is the first movement from the "Paris" Quartet No 4 in B minor.
MOZART wrote quite a number of string quartets that somewhat resemble those of Haydn. Indeed, he wrote several now called the Haydn Quartets in honor of his friend. These were some of his best.
However, we're going for variety so I'll ignore those and instead feature his Clarinet Quintet. This is actually a string quartet with a clarinet thrown in for good measure. This was originally written for the basset clarinet. That's a clarinet played by a rather lugubrious looking dog. These days the regular clarinet is used and there's not usually a dog in sight.
This is the only piece of his of this type that still exists; there is a fragment from the score of another but unfortunately, it's lost to us. At least we have this one, the first movement from the Clarinet Quintet in A, K. 581.
I saved the string quintet category for LUIGI BOCCHERINI.
The one I selected is his most famous and the movement I've chosen is so popular it's often played as a stand-alone piece. That's what I'm doing today.
This one is sometimes called a cello quintet as it's a regular string quartet with an extra cello. I imagine he did that because Luigi himself was a cellist of note in his day and wrote many pieces featuring the instrument.
This is the third movement, a minuet, from his String Quintet Op 13, No 5 in E major.
FELIX MENDELSSOHN started composing at a very young age. Indeed, some of his greatest works he wrote before he was eighteen.
Like everyone in today's post, Felix wrote string quartets. It seems to be de rigueur. He also wrote many chamber works that involve the piano. Some say these are Schumannesque in style. I say phooey to that, they are much better than Schumann's.
Here is a sextet for piano, violin, two violas, cello and double bass. An interesting combination. It is the fourth movement from the Piano Sextet, Op 110.
BEETHOVEN wrote string quartets that rival those of Haydn and Mozart. Some say surpass those but I wouldn't go that far.
Again, I'm not going with the string quartet. In this piece, Ludwig went for a single clarinet, bassoon and horn rather than doubling up on these instruments. This was the first time anyone had done such a thing.
He also made the clarinet as important as the violin. There were mutterings in the dress circle about that sort of thing.
Anyway, here is the fourth movement from the Septet in E flat major, Op 20 for clarinet, bassoon, horn, violin, viola, cello and double bass.
The Trout Quintet is the popular name for the Piano Quintet in A major by FRANZ SCHUBERT. He wrote it when he was 22 years old, however, it wasn't published until a year after he died.
This isn't the standard piano quintet - i.e. a string quartet with a piano thrust in the middle. This is scored for piano, violin, viola, cello and double bass. The reason for this is that some musicians were to play one of Hummel's works with that arrangement and Franz thought that was a good idea.
Its name comes about because he grabbed one of his own melodies for the fourth movement. The tune is from one of his songs, Die Forelle which I'm led to believe means The Trout. Here is that movement.
I started this column at the birth of the string quartet and I'll end with another string quartet by a composer who is still with us, PHILIP GLASS.
Philip's early musical education came from the unsold records his father brought home from the record store he owned. These were mostly modern classical works by such as Bartók, Schoenberg and Hindemith.
Philip's music is often described as minimalist, that it’s trite and repetitive, but that doesn't do it justice. I hear the influence of Bach in his music, perhaps Schubert as well. Philip is on record as saying that if you don’t like my music don’t listen to it. An admirable sentiment. I’m a liker and a listener.
This is the fourth movement of his String Quartet No 5.
Chamber Music or Room Music, if you prefer, is music that's played in a room. Who'd a thought that?
Of course, most classical music is played in a room of some kind, but I'm talking of a specific type of music. This is music played by few people.
The string quartet is the best known, but the number of players can be anywhere from three to eight or so. More than that and we're starting to become an orchestra of some kind, fewer and we'd have to call it a sonata.
Because of its intimate nature, chamber music has been described as "the music of friends." A lot of chamber music is still played by amateurs and even professional players often like to get together informally to play this type of music.
We'll start with the main man, the inventor of chamber music and in particular, the string quartet, JOSEPH HAYDN.
Papa Jo wrote a bunch of string quartets, 78 according to Hoboken's catalogue, although five or six of those are considered spurious. Well, spuriously attributed to Haydn that is. Anyway, I had no intention of going with one of those.
Very early in his career, Jo was often invited to Baron von Fürnberg's castle. There, he'd get into an impromptu jam session with the Baron's steward, a priest and a local cellist. The Baron asked for some new music for them to play and the string quartet was born.
We'll go right back to the beginning if opus numbers are any indication. This is opus 0. It seems that this quartet was included in early editions of opus 1, however, it was lost for a long time until its manuscript was discovered in the 1930s and they decided to make it opus 0.
I don't know what would happen if they found any even earlier one. Opus minus 1 perhaps? This is the fourth movement of the String Quartet in E flat major, Op 0.
GEORG PHILIPP TELEMANN wrote a lot of chamber music of all kinds.
The one I'm interested in today is one of the "Paris" quartets. Georg visited Paris because of copyright violations; there were unauthorised collections of his quartets doing the rounds. He soon put a stop to that and issued them under his own name.
However, his quartets were already so popular in the city that he hung around for months enjoying the acclaim and patronage of the musical public.
These quartets are an interesting mix of instruments – violin, harpsichord, viola da gamba and flute. This is the first movement from the "Paris" Quartet No 4 in B minor.
MOZART wrote quite a number of string quartets that somewhat resemble those of Haydn. Indeed, he wrote several now called the Haydn Quartets in honor of his friend. These were some of his best.
However, we're going for variety so I'll ignore those and instead feature his Clarinet Quintet. This is actually a string quartet with a clarinet thrown in for good measure. This was originally written for the basset clarinet. That's a clarinet played by a rather lugubrious looking dog. These days the regular clarinet is used and there's not usually a dog in sight.
This is the only piece of his of this type that still exists; there is a fragment from the score of another but unfortunately, it's lost to us. At least we have this one, the first movement from the Clarinet Quintet in A, K. 581.
I saved the string quintet category for LUIGI BOCCHERINI.
The one I selected is his most famous and the movement I've chosen is so popular it's often played as a stand-alone piece. That's what I'm doing today.
This one is sometimes called a cello quintet as it's a regular string quartet with an extra cello. I imagine he did that because Luigi himself was a cellist of note in his day and wrote many pieces featuring the instrument.
This is the third movement, a minuet, from his String Quintet Op 13, No 5 in E major.
FELIX MENDELSSOHN started composing at a very young age. Indeed, some of his greatest works he wrote before he was eighteen.
Like everyone in today's post, Felix wrote string quartets. It seems to be de rigueur. He also wrote many chamber works that involve the piano. Some say these are Schumannesque in style. I say phooey to that, they are much better than Schumann's.
Here is a sextet for piano, violin, two violas, cello and double bass. An interesting combination. It is the fourth movement from the Piano Sextet, Op 110.
BEETHOVEN wrote string quartets that rival those of Haydn and Mozart. Some say surpass those but I wouldn't go that far.
Again, I'm not going with the string quartet. In this piece, Ludwig went for a single clarinet, bassoon and horn rather than doubling up on these instruments. This was the first time anyone had done such a thing.
He also made the clarinet as important as the violin. There were mutterings in the dress circle about that sort of thing.
Anyway, here is the fourth movement from the Septet in E flat major, Op 20 for clarinet, bassoon, horn, violin, viola, cello and double bass.
The Trout Quintet is the popular name for the Piano Quintet in A major by FRANZ SCHUBERT. He wrote it when he was 22 years old, however, it wasn't published until a year after he died.
This isn't the standard piano quintet - i.e. a string quartet with a piano thrust in the middle. This is scored for piano, violin, viola, cello and double bass. The reason for this is that some musicians were to play one of Hummel's works with that arrangement and Franz thought that was a good idea.
Its name comes about because he grabbed one of his own melodies for the fourth movement. The tune is from one of his songs, Die Forelle which I'm led to believe means The Trout. Here is that movement.
I started this column at the birth of the string quartet and I'll end with another string quartet by a composer who is still with us, PHILIP GLASS.
Philip's early musical education came from the unsold records his father brought home from the record store he owned. These were mostly modern classical works by such as Bartók, Schoenberg and Hindemith.
Philip's music is often described as minimalist, that it’s trite and repetitive, but that doesn't do it justice. I hear the influence of Bach in his music, perhaps Schubert as well. Philip is on record as saying that if you don’t like my music don’t listen to it. An admirable sentiment. I’m a liker and a listener.
This is the fourth movement of his String Quartet No 5.