What is chamber music?
A. Unlike orchestra or band music, chamber music is written for a small number of players and each player has his or her own individual part to play. There is no conductor in chamber music. The players learn to use body language to start and stop the music. Groups, also called ensembles, need to rehearse and make musical decisions together as equals. At MADCAP Chamber, each group has its own professional coach to help with the process.
It is music suitable for performance in a chamber, or room, as opposed to a large concert hall. The term is usually applied to instrumental music, though it can equally apply to vocal. It usually applies to music for three to ten players. The critical idea is one person to a part. In an orchestra there are generally at least several players per part. The instruments can be any mix you like, with or without piano. There is no conductor. Some common types are: string quartets (two violins, viola and cello), piano trios (violin, cello and piano), and woodwind quintets (flute, oboe, clarinet, horn, bassoon). Sonatas for two instruments (for example, violin and piano, or clarinet and piano) are a kind of cousin, since they involve one instrument per part and a collaborative performance. Works involving one or more instruments and a vocal line, like German “lieder” fall in the same category.
Chamber music is defined as one player per part – in other words, one first violin, one second violin, one viola, one cello, etc., in any number of combinations, such as duos, trios, quartets, quintets, etc. Occasionally chamber music ensembles are conducted, but most ensembles do not use a conductor.
Chamber music is instrumental music for a small number of instruments ranging in size from one player to groups of a dozen or more. Chamber groups, or ensembles, perform without a conductor. Chamber music is written with one player for each part, and generally all parts are of equal importance. It is called chamber music because it was originally meant to be played for private performances, typically in a room (or chamber) of someone’s house.
