Chamber music : Unusual ensembles

[quintett op.57]

Having a look at my Chamber music collection, I noticed it was full of piano trios, string quartets, string quintets, piano quintets and so many pieces for piano & 1 other instrument.

It lacks more original forms.
They're generally less famous, but among the few unusual ensembles I have, there's a good proportion of great works.

Let's mention these :

Zelenka :         trio sonata n°2, for 2 oboes and bassoon

Schumann :    Märchenerzählungen, for clarinet, viola and piano
                      Andante & variations, for 2 cellos, 2 pianos and horn

Dohnanyi :      Sextet for piano, violin, viola, cello, clarinet & horn

Ravel :            Introduction & Allegro, for string quartet, clarinet, flute & harp

[Archaic Torso of Apollo]

Dohnanyi :      Sextet for piano, violin, viola, cello, clarinet & horn

I like the Penderecki Sextet for exactly this combo of instruments.

Also Stravinsky's Octet, whose exact instrumentation I can't remember but it calls for both tenor and bass trombone. Stravinsky wrote a number of chamber works for unusual ensembles.

[quintett op.57]

Mentioning Stravinsky is so pertinent.
Notably because he's such a master of wind instruments.

[Carolus]

Franz Schmidt: quintet for piano left hand,clarinet,violin,viola and cello.
Holst:quintet for piano, oboe,clarinet,horn and faggot.
d'Indy:trio for piano,clarinet and cello
Balakireff: Octet (one movement) for piano, violin, viola, cello, flute, oboe, french horn and bass.

[karlhenning]

A piece which (great timing!) I happened to revisit last night: Prokofiev's Quintet in g minor, Opus 39 (ob/cl/vn/va/cb)

[karlhenning]

Also, I've been asked for a piece for violin & harpsichord.

[Carolus]

Also, I've been asked for a piece for violin & harpsichord.

at your order sir:
Milhaud:sonate op.257.
Vittorio Rieti:Sonata breve

[karlhenning]

I was unclear: I have been asked to compose  a piece for violin & harpsichord.

[listener]

Messiaen: Fête des belles eaux   for 6 ondes martenot
Hindemith: Trio for heckelphone, viola and piano
Saxophone quartets (4 saxes) by Genzmer, Glazunov, Bumcke and Françaix
Moór: Suite for 4 Cellos, also Jongen: 2 Pieces op.89 for 4 Cellos
most obvious: Schubert's "Trout" Quintet that needs a  double bass

[jochanaan]

A long time ago I was in a chamber group consisting of flute, oboe, and clarinet.  (I was the oboist.)  Although we played a lot of arrangements, there is actually some nice music composed for this combination, including a Malcolm Arnold Divertimento composed in 1952.

[karlhenning]

From the files:

Starlings on the Rooftop. (2005) Flute, English horn, bassoon. Composed for Second Winds.

[Wanderer]

Korngold: Suite for piano left hand, 2 violins & cello, op.23.
Chausson: Concert for violin, piano & string quartet, op.21.

[UB]

Wolfgang Rihm loves to write chamber music for interesting combinations of instruments - here is just five:

Deploration for flute, cello, percussion
Abschieds-Marsch for 4 trumpets, 3 trombones, percussion
Bild (eine Chiffre) for French horn, trumpet, trombone, viola, cello, double bass, piano, 2 percussion
Sphäre um Sphäre for flute, oboe, A-clarinet, harp, violin, viola, cello, double bass, 2 pianos, percussion,
Kolchis , harp, cello, 5-string double bass, piano, high woodblock [+ large tam-tam]

For a complete list look here

[Wanderer]

Also, I've been asked for a piece for violin & harpsichord.

Karl, how about a triad of works or movements, each for violin, flute, clarinet (respectively) & harpsichord? 

[karlhenning]

Hmmm . . . .

[Spotswood]

The first thing that comes to mind is the chamber sets of Charles Ives, which combine instruments in unusal ways. "From the Incantation," for instance, is scored for three violins, trumpet, flute and piano.

Then there's some of the more famous works of Carter, such as the Sonata for Flute, Oboe, Cello and harpsichord; the Triple Duo, for violin, cello, flute, clarinet, piano and percussion; or the Trilogy for Oboe and Harp.

Oh, and Bartok's Sonata for two pianos and percussion.

Lots of cool stuff out there.

[Guido]

Korngold: Suite for piano left hand, 2 violins & cello, op.23.

That's an absolute beauty and one of my favourite chamber works. And the works by Ives that Joe mentions are almost all fantastic.

Goldschmidt's trio for oboe, cello and harp is quite nice too.

[Spotswood]

And the works by Ives that Joe mentions are almost all fantastic.

Almost?

[Opus106]

Didn't someone recently mention a string quartet with two cellos? I regret to say that I have forgotten whose work it was or who mentioned it.

And, another vote for Chausson's Op. 21.

[Grazioso]

You should check these out:

A septet for trumpet, piano, string quartet, and bass, along with some other delightful chamber works:



Six discs of quintets, sextets, septets, octets, and nonets with well-varied instrumentation by early Romantics:



Bax wrote a number of chamber works for unusual ensembles, such as an Elegiac Trio for harp, viola, and flute and a Fantasy Sonata for harp and viola:

most obvious: Schubert's "Trout" Quintet that needs a  double bass

There's an excellent period group, the Nepomuk Fortepiano Quintet, that's recorded three albums on Brilliant of works for that supposedly unusual ensemble:



So far, they've covered Hummel, Dussek, Onslow, Ries, Limmer, Cramer, and Schubert. And CPO has released an excellent disc of two piano quintets with bass by Louise Farrenc, one of the great unsung Romantic female composers.

Onslow's various sextets, septets, nonets, etc. feature a varied array of instrumentation:

Didn't someone recently mention a string quartet with two cellos? I regret to say that I have forgotten whose work it was or who mentioned it.

Boccherini wrote numerous string quintets scored for two cellos (and three for string quartet plus bass). I don't know about quartets with two cellos, though.