Notes on Chamber Music From a PowerPoint Presentation by Sam Shamoon

1) What is chamber music? How is it different from orchestral music? 2) Brief history of chamber music. 3) Why do we like chamber music?

1. Chamber music is an ensemble of instruments, with a separate and different part assigned to each player (Karl Haas) 2. Orchestral music involves several identical parts for groups of players, such as violins, violas, cellos, etc. (Karl Haas)

History of Chamber Music 1. From Medieval period to the present, chamber music has been a reflection of the changes in the technology and the society that produced it. 2. Middle Ages: •Instruments were used as accompaniment for singers. •Origin of classical chamber music goes back to the sonata da camera (chamber sonata) and the sonata da chiesa (church sonata). •Forms developed into the trio sonata of the Baroque – two treble instruments and a bass instrument, often with a keyboard.

During the Baroque period, chamber music as a genre was not clearly defined. •Works could be played on any variety of instruments, orchestral or chamber ensembles. •The instrumentation of trio sonatas was often flexibly specified. •Sometimes composers mixed movements for chamber ensembles with orchestral movements.

Second half of the 18th century, tastes change: •Composers return to classical simplicity after the complexity of the late Baroque era. •New form of chamber music: the serenade. •Patrons invite street musicians to play evening concerts below the balconies of their homes, their friends and their lovers. •Patrons and musicians commissioned composers to write suitable suites of dances and tunes, for groups of two to five or six players. These works were called serenades, nocturnes, divertimenti. • The young Joseph Haydn was commissioned to write several of these.

Joseph Haydn (1732 – 1809) is generally credited with creating the modern form of chamber music as we know it. •83 string quartets, •45 piano trios, •numerous string trios, duos and wind ensembles,

Haydn established the conversational style of composition and the overall form that was to dominate the world of chamber music for the next two centuries.