THE CLASSICAL CHAMBER MUSIC

Classical chamber music is designed for the intimate setting of a room in a home or palace, rather than for a public concert hall. It is performed by a small group of two to nine musicians, with one player to a part. Chamber music is lighter in sound than classical orchestral music. It was fashionable for an aristocrat or a member of the well-to-do middle class to play chamber music with friends and to hire professional musicians to entertain guests after dinner.

Chamber music is subtle and intimate, intended to please the performer as musch as the listener, and it does not need a conductor; instead, each musician must be sensitive to what goes on and co-ordinate dynamics and phrasing with the other musicians.

The most important form in classical chamber music is the string quartet, written for two violins, a viola, and a cello. The string quartet usually consists of four movements: (1)fast, (2)slow, (3)minuet or scherzo, (4)fast.