# Which chamber music genre do you prefer



## ScipioAfricanus (Jan 7, 2010)

Piano Trios
Piano Quartets
Piano Quintets
String Quartets
String Quintets

I have developed love for the Piano Trios lately. Before that it was the string quartet.


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## Quartetfore (May 19, 2010)

I have to pick one, It would have to be the string quartet.


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## Weston (Jul 11, 2008)

There are more great string quartets written than any of the other genres, but for timbre I prefer the piano quintet. There are many more tone colors available for the piano quintet, yet it remains intimate enough to really focus on each instrument. I even enjoy the one Mozart piano quintet I have in my collection - the Eb, K. 452 though I'm not a big Mozart fan. I am disappointed Beethoven did not write for this genre though he did write some piano quartets I am looking for.

Boccherini has a number of guitar quintets that are quite pleasant. That's another genre I wish had appeared more often.

Piano trios are great too. I don't refuse any of the chamber genres.

So what is everyone's favorite examples of these?


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## Guest (Jun 18, 2010)

That's a really tough choice; I love all forms of chamber music. I mean, my idol Brahms wrote masterpieces for each of the genres you listed, and then some. Dvorak wrote some fine chamber music as well. Couldn't just pick one, though; it would feel like a huge disservice


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## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

I like all of them. Lately, I have been going to see concerts of the Australian pianist Kathryn Selby's piano trio (called "Trioz"), with Nikki Vasilakis, violin & Emma Jane Murphy, cello. They don't only play the "popular" trios, but some lesser-known ones as well. I've also been to concerts with her on piano performing Schubert's _"Trout" Quintet_ and Schumann's _Piano Quartet_. I also went to a peformance of C.M. von Weber's _Clarinet Quintet_, which was also enjoyable. I am also looking forward to attending some string quartet concerts later in the year (I wish they played something like Morton Feldman's 80 minute long _String Quartet No. 1 _here in Sydney, I really enjoy the newer stuff for this medium). But I will see Selby & the others perform Messiaen's _Quartet for the End of Time_ in July (really looking forward to that one).

I don't have an encyclopedic knowledge of any of the combinations, I'm just beginning to appreciate chamber music after a long hiatus. One combination I'd add is the string sextet, some good ones were composed by Brahms, Tchaikovsky and Schoenberg...


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## Weston (Jul 11, 2008)

This thread makes me curious why these particular groupings of chamber instruments became so popular. Why are there so many string quartets and piano trios and almost no oboe sonatas (with piano), for instance. I would think flute, cello, and piano would make a great trio combination. Does anyone know why these forms developed the way the did?


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## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

I think it may be something to do with composer's biases. Like I heard that Mozart absolutely loathed the flute (but that didn't stop him from writing for the instrument, probably to make some money, he was merely human like the rest of us). Most composers were either good or brilliant pianists or say violinists, but few would have been really adept at other instruments as well. I know Villa-Lobos could play virtually all instruments, and this meant that he composed for many odd combinations. Often, a professional relationship with another soloist of repute also has had bearings on whether a composer wrote for a particular instrument or not.


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## Aramis (Mar 1, 2009)

Piano Quintets, I like piano cooperating with chamber string ensamble. Why not quartets then? Dunno, I guess there are much less quartets than quintets (only quartets I really like are Faure's), more tasty animals, we really like the moon.


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## ScipioAfricanus (Jan 7, 2010)

I find the Piano Trio combination to be the most flexible. I find the Piano Quintet too rigid. But I do love the Piano Quintet, just not as much as the Piano Trio.


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## Guest (Jun 18, 2010)

Piano Trio, definitely - esp. Brahms and Dvorak. After that String Quartet and Quintet. Schubert's String Quintet is an incredible work.


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## Quartetfore (May 19, 2010)

The origin of the string quartet, and its history would take more than a few pages so here is a very short history of the piano trio. The piano trio as we know it date to the freeing of the Cello. Up to the early part of the18th century, the cellos role was to provide a base line for the piano and violin. Mozart in has last works and Beethoven in his first 3 trios, and Schubert provided the model for the piano trio for the rest of the century. From its use as domestic music making, to its new role as a vehicle for the piano virtuoso of the mid-century, to the full formed works of Brahms, Dvorak and so many others the piano trio has had a great history. I would think that the 19th. century was the golden age of the genre. Interest in the trio during the 20th century seems to have waned. Of course Ravel, Ives, Faure, and Shostakovich added great works to the repertory. Your question " Why not the Oboe etc etc." is interesting. The early string quartet and the piano trio were designed for domestic use. Since up to the mid-19th century the violin was the chief instrument for home use, and the piano for the balance of the century and up to our time, the majority of music was composed for these instruments. I have a feeling that the Oboe and in fact all the "Winds" were not found in many homes. Best, Quartetfore


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## Sebastian (Jun 18, 2010)

*string quartet!*

String Quartet. Without a doubt. Beethoven's late quartets or some of Schubert's are just celestial masterpieces of sound.

I'm not too find of the combination of instruments in a piano trio, although there are some amazing pieces in that genre as well.


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## Air (Jul 19, 2008)

Probably Trios and Quintets, but naturally I like _more_ String Quartets. Can anyone recommend some good Piano Quartets?


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## Aramis (Mar 1, 2009)

Air said:


> Can anyone recommend some good Piano Quartets?


Faure's quartets (I mentioned them before I think), get this hyperion disc:


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## Quartetfore (May 19, 2010)

Schumann, Brahms, Dvorak op87, and perhaps the two by Herzogenberg would fit the bill. Quartetfore


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