The duo I've been part of has fallen apart due to other obligations of my partner and now I'm thinking of starting a small chamber group (trio or quartett). I hope someone can get me some information about the instruments this group can exist of. (I play the piano, if that was not clear )

I know the piano trio (i.e. piano, violin and cello) is very populair and there is very much music for this kind of chamber groups. I'd like to know if there are other combinations that are common, and that has some choice in the music there is to play. Especially combinations with wind instruments.

Thanks in advance!

Violin, flute and piano is another lovely combination.
Lots of pieces eg JS Bach Trio Sonata or Loeillet, Martinu Sonata or Benjamin Britten's Gemini variations for those instruments.
Maybe easier to find what instruments you have in your group and then I am sure you will find pieces to play.

Oooh violin flute and piano... could SO do that with a couple of friends... any more recommendations for that combination?

about what grade pieces are you looking for?

Pianist - somewhere between grade 8 and diploma level
Violinist - grade 8 plus
Flautist - doing grade 6 soon but capable of higher grade stuff (I've played a couple of grade 7 and 8 pieces and can manage though I wouldn't place myself at that level yet, but if there was a really lovely piece then I'd just have to work hard!)

ps should add, by no means does the music HAVE to be grade 8 plus, the aforesaid pianist and violinist would I am CERTAIN be more than happy to not have to play at that level even though they can

Wow that will be an awesome group of players .. I imagine you would be able to play just about anything written beautifully. Try the Britten if you want to start with something a bit different.

They are definitely awesome, I am... Ok and improving!!!

thanks for the recommendations, I need to find out what is available from the music library in town and then nobble my friends to come play with me!

PS, thanks so much for the recommendations and any other suggestions you have would be gratefully received!

Yes, that would be helpful. It might be poss to rearrange things written for different combinations, like flutes can play a lot of violin music accepting the fact that it won't sound quite the same (and double stops are difficult on the flute!) and you might have to do a judicious octave shift here and there.

Ahhh, you have no ambition...

In my relatively limited experience of trying, one of the hardest things is simply that pieces written for certain instruments, even within the range of another, have been written to take the vagaries of THAT instrument into account... which can work in your favour (ie playing recorder music on the flute, usually) but more often doesn't...

J S Bach: Trio sonata from The Musical Offering: great music, great fun.

Yes I've played that and it was one I suggested in my earlier post too!
I find that chamber music playing really improves your listening and tempo skills

(post removed = posted on wrong forum).

Arghhh, a temporary affliction!

This is true but there's an amount of baroque music that's music in its own right and which would sound good in any combination of suitable instruments. Thinking about TellyMann*** trios. But that's just baroque.

As long as you're having a good time - trios and quartets can be great fun besides being serious ensemble practice. And a chance, as Kenm said elsewhere, to build confidence for public performance/ exams/.

(*** I don't know if WirelessGurl wrote any!)

But not impossible on the recorder if you opt to play the Bach Gavotte en Rondeau for Grade 8, as I did.

There is a flute version of the Paganini Caprices. A violinist friend of my teacher's looked at his copy and said, 'Gosh! It's much harder than the violin version, isn't it?'. The double stops are changes to rapid arpeggiations (is that a real word? ).

Often it sounds good, sometimes it's still harder or easier to play if you play it on different instruments. I have no objections to playing stuff that wasn't written for my instruments in terms of musical-ness (!) - it may sound better on the original instruments, occasionally it doesn't! Ensemble playing, IMNVHO, is one of the great joys of learning music.





Egad! You recorder players are gluttons for punishment... *grin*


Oh goodness...

And, I don't know, but it sounds good (your new word!)