Your preferred mode of chamber composition.

Greetings,

I am currently experimenting with different instrument combinations and ideas for chamber music, a small and intimate way of communicating our deepest musical feelings. I love all music, but chamber music brings something personal down to the individual in its piercing strains. My purpose is to get a general view of preferences for chamber music composition. This is not to ask "what is the best type of chamber music!?", but to gather information on preferred styles. I'd love to find out just which style is most prevalent among the many established combos.

Here's an example of what I'm looking for:

I have a certain attachment to string quintets. You may ask "why a quintet, and not a sextet or quartet?" There is something very interesting about this balance of five instruments, and the homogeneous quality of strings creates a sound world beyond compare, in my opinion. String sextets, septets, and octets become too large for me, but a quintet is just right, I think. Not to mention the fact that the repertoire is amazing: Schubert's quintet, Brahms' two quintets, one by Beethoven, and several by Mozart. Yes, I've missed quite a few... but I'll find them, seeing as I love the damn genre so much.

For the sake of variety, I'll include solo sonatas and dual (violin/piano, etc.) sonatas as chamber music, and not separate them. I have sometimes encountered the opinion that solo sonatas aren't so much chamber music as display cases for talent. Here, whatever your opinion is, they are considered chamber music. I realize that many different people with ranging tastes will not prefer any particular selection of instruments, but you must admit that certain groupings have certain characteristic sounds. Even if you would compose in all of these groupings, it would be nice to know if you have a preference for any particular grouping or number. The number of instruments and their type is very important in the timbre of such a small ensemble, so it's up to opinion.

I'd love to hear your personal favourite genre/instrumental group of chamber music, and just why you prefer it! :)

Also, if it is a different grouping you prefer, please mention it and why you'd prefer to change from the conservative groupings. New ideas for combinations are always welcome!

I don't use historical groups because I don't know them. I really like the grouping on my 8-instrument piece: Flute, Bb Clarinet, Bassoon, Violin, Viola, Cello, Trumpet and Horn... A lot of timbres and textures :)

I used to write several pieces for Oboe, Horn, Viola and Cello, but that's already quite a few years ago. Lately, most of my chamber music pieces were defined by the circumstances, i.e. what I could work with for a fixed performance, so I didn't have much choice. Currently I'm writing for three pianos, which I find an awesome setup. I always found groups of keyboard instruments strangely fascinating.

But I'd also love to write a string quartet any time soon. It's interesting to work with an ensemble that is extremely charged historically, and the string quartet is maybe the most extreme in that respect.

Oh, and there are always percussion ensembles. Awesome stuff!

But yeah, I can't really name a "favourite ensemble". It's different for every piece I write and can be pretty much anything. (Although there are some instruments I don't like particularly that I avoid whenever possible.)

Personally I like the idea of a string quartet. It's interesting I happen to be listening to a Haydn quartet right now (Quartet no. 52 in E flat Major opus 64 mvt. 3). The particular one that I'm listening to was in the Pink Panther movie with Steve Martin.

But anyway yes a quartet..preferably Haydn influenced. :)

Where's the piano in any of this? Piano Quartet anybody?

What a wonderful psychological vehicle is the chamber or unaccompanied sonata!

Yeah, where is the Piano Trio, the second most important chamber ensemble?

wow, Jo Kondo would very hardly fit in any of these categories.. :( apart from maybe the last one, in some cases.

how about "anything that I feel sounds good"? :P

I like writing for different kidns of instruments. I've stayed away from 'standard' instrumentation for the time being. I've written a woodwind sextet, replacing the horn with an alto sax and a bass clarinet. I've written a piece for Violin, Viola, Cello, Clarinet, Harp, and Percussion.

I like writing Percussion music a lot too, in chamber settings.

I prefer unaccompanied sonatas, although I'd love to give an ensemble like, say, Flute, Viola, and Bass Trombone a try.

i like duets.

BUT WHERES THE PIANO TRIO??????????????

For me I love the woodwind quintet and the brass quintet. The brass trio and piano trio are also some favourites of mine - I'm all about winds. Strings quartets... really any chamber ensemble with string instruments in it I could do without. (such as string trio + clarinet, ect., I really don't like hearing string and wind timbres together in most cases)