Chamber Music

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 any small chamber
It includes any art music that is performed by a small number of performers,
with one performer to a part
Some of the more common chamber music combinations are duets (two
players), trios (three), quartets (four) and quintets (five)

Baroque 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.

Classical Chamber Music

The harpsichord gave way to the piano. Many composers wrote for a solo
instrument plus piano
Violin, cello and flute sonatas were popular Mozart and Haydn both wrote
Violin and cello sonatas.
The String Quartet
The most familiar type of composition for a chamber group
It has two violins, a viola and a cello all the parts are equally important
In the 18th century, Haydn was the first well-known composer to write string
quartets.
Since then most leading composers have written string quartets including
Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, Debussy, Ravel, Bartok, Shostakovitch, John Cage
and Stockhausen. Stockhausens Helicopter String Quartet (1993) was
composed for 'four string players in four helicopters flying in the air and
playing'.
Most string quartets are in four movements. The standard Classical form is:

1st movement: Allegro (fast) in sonata form

2nd movement: Slow
3rd movement: Minuet and Trio
4th movement: Allegro

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!