Chamber Music Course
6/9/2009 - 7/28/2009, Tuesday 10:00 AM - 12:30 PM
This course celebrates chamber music other than the oft-studied string quartet and solo keyboard repertoire. We will examine the dynamics of various groupings and the evolution of form from the classical era to the explosion of new possibilities in the post-romantic era. Works include (but are not limited to): Haydn trios, Mozart string quintets, Beethoven trios (including the “Archduke”), Schubert trios, Brahms quintets and sextets, and a look at the duo sonata (keyboard and solo instrument) as a genre.
Week 1: Mozart and Haydn
Mozart violin sonatas featuring the E Minor sonata and A Major Sonata K. 526.
Haydn piano trios in A flat, F Shart Minor and E Major (28th) featured.
Week 2: Mozart and Beethoven
- Mozart’s A Musical Joke
- Mozart string quintets
- Beethoven violin sonatas featuring No. 10 in G Major.
Week 3 - Beethoven and Schubert
Beethoven and Schubert, the piano trios.
Week 4: Schubert and Mendelssohn
Schubert String Quintet; Mendelssohn chamber works.
Week 5: Schumann, Brahms and Dvorak
Schumann Piano Quintet; Brahms Piano Quintet; Dvorak Piano Quintet
Week 6: Janacek, Brahms, Franck, Faure
The reemergence of chamber styles ensuant to the first romantic generation: Janacek, late Brahms, Franck Piano Quintet, Faure’s chamber works.
Week 7: The Cello
Solo cello sonatas and suites by Kodaly and Britten; Debussy Cello Sonata, Shostakovich Second Trio and Piano Quintet
Week 8: Post-Romantic and Postwar
Primacy of chamber music in post-romantic and avant-garde styles, economic and social evolution of public music. Webern, Boulez and the European avant-garde; Crumb, Sessions, Carter and postwar America
Chamber Music Class Menu
- Syllabus (8)
Printable Syllabus: PDF format | RTF format
Recommended
These materials are optional, and if you purchase through these links it will help support this website.
For recommended recordings, including some of the materials played in class, check the syllabus under each week.
Guide to Chamber Music
by Melvin Berger
19th-Century Chamber Music (Routledge Studies in Musical Genres)
by Stephen Hefling
20th Century Chamber Music (Routledge Studies in Musical Genre)
by James McCalla
Adams to Zemlinsky, A Friendly Guide to Chamber Music
by Lucy Miller
Beyond the Notes : Journeys with Chamber Music
by Susan Tomes
Brahms and His World (The Bard Music Festival)
Princeton University Press
The Romantic Generation (The Charles Eliot Norton Lectures)
by Charles Rosen
The Classical Style: Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven
by Charles Rosen