Top 11 Composers of Chamber Music

[Madiel]

Haydn
Mozart
Beethoven
Schubert (when he finally finished something...)
Schumann
Brahms
Dvorak
Faure
Shostakovich
Poulenc
Holmboe

And that's what I came up with before realising I don't have enough of many composers to really judge. Although I will say that Smetana's Piano Trio was an absolute knockout when I heard it in concert earlier this year.

[Ken B]

Haydn
Mozart
Beethoven
Schubert (when he finally finished something...)
Schumann
Brahms
Dvorak
Faure
Shostakovich
Poulenc
Holmboe

Drop Holmboe and that's my 10, not quite my order. No clear 11. Kodaly for one piece maybe, Janacek, Hummel, Taneyev, lots of others.

[Madiel]

Drop Holmboe and that's my 10, not quite my order. No clear 11. Kodaly for one piece maybe, Janacek, Hummel, Taneyev, lots of others.

Well, if you don't have a clear 11, you didn't need to drop Holmboe! 

[Ken B]

Well, if you don't have a clear 11, you didn't need to drop Holmboe! 

The devil made me do it!

[Jay F]

Shostakovich
Beethoven
Schubert

I'm new to chamber music, and here in Pittsburgh, solo piano is considered "chamber," as far as the subscription series goes. I didn't think solo piano was "chamber music," though. Of course, I thought violin sonatas were. So I don't know what I know.

I've seen Bach mentioned. What is "chamber" by Bach? I love Bach. Am I missing out on something? Everything I have is solo piano or a concerto, I think.

[amw]

Chamber music is anything from 2 to approx. 20 instruments. I think chamber music and vocal music together would account for about three-quarters of all classical music, followed by solo keyboard music with orchestral music in fourth place. Reducing chamber music to the kind of niche genre that piano concertos or symphonies are (or other previous entries in this series), such that one could name a "top 11 composers", seems nonsensical. I think a "top 11 composers of orchestral music" would make much more sense, actually.

For Bach all of his concertos are technically chamber music, although up until recently they were only ever heard in orchestral arrangements, and are still sometimes played that way. Also, the trio and accompanied sonatas. The vast majority of Bach's music is choral though, so if you don't have e.g. the B minor mass or the St Matthew or John Passions, or any of the Cantatas, yes you're definitely missing out on something.

[Jay F]

Chamber music is anything from 2 to approx. 20 instruments. I think chamber music and vocal music together would account for about three-quarters of all classical music, followed by solo keyboard music with orchestral music in fourth place. Reducing chamber music to the kind of niche genre that piano concertos or symphonies are (or other previous entries in this series), such that one could name a "top 11 composers", seems nonsensical. I think a "top 11 composers of orchestral music" would make much more sense, actually.

For Bach all of his concertos are technically chamber music, although up until recently they were only ever heard in orchestral arrangements, and are still sometimes played that way. Also, the trio and accompanied sonatas. The vast majority of Bach's music is choral though, so if you don't have e.g. the B minor mass or the St Matthew or John Passions, or any of the Cantatas, yes you're definitely missing out on something.

The St. Matthew Passion is one of my ten favorite pieces of music by anyone, but I've not come to love the Mass or the St. John as much, nor the cantatas, which sound more similar to me than different. I have the first Herreweghe St. Matthew, the rest by Gardiner.

Are there versions of the concertos that are more chamber than orchestral?

Thanks.

[Ken B]

The St. Matthew Passion is one of my ten favorite pieces of music by anyone, but I've not come to love the Mass or the St. John as much, nor the cantatas, which sound more similar to me than different. I have the first Herreweghe St. Matthew, the rest by Gardiner.

Are there versions of the concertos that are more chamber than orchestral?

Thanks.

Look for cantata 106, Actus Tragicus.
Rifkin did a number of cantatas one per voice, as did McCreesh in SMP. Small scale works well.

[Jaakko Keskinen]

In no particular order:

Beethoven
Schubert
Brahms
Sibelius
Schumann
Mendelssohn
Faure
Franck
Haydn
Mozart 
Grieg

Damn that you can't put more than 11!
Honorary mentions: 
Schönberg
Shostakovich
Saint-Saëns
Debussy
Ravel
Dvorak
Verdi and Bruckner ( they may not have wrote much chamber music but damn... Verdi's quartet and Bruckners string quartet & quintet, ahh... I'm in Heaven.)
                               

[North Star]

Sibelius
Grieg

Hmm, I can't say I've heard that much of these composers' chamber works (Voces Intimae, some other Sibelius, and Grieg VS & one or two of the mature SQs) but I didn't expect they'd make someone's top 11, and I certainly didn't expect them to eclipse DSCH, Ravel or Dvorak!

[Jaakko Keskinen]

As I said it's increasingly difficult to list only 11 composers. Grieg's demonic violin sonata no. 3 alone would have IMO been more than enough to put him in top 11.
I originally wasn't going to add Haydn or Mozart (instead I probably would have added Dvorak and Debussy/Ravel) since I am much more romantic or modern music guy but considering how much influence two of them have had in development of chamber music (Haydn practically invented string quartet) I ultimately decided to keep them in.

[North Star]

As I said it's increasingly difficult to list only 11 composers. Grieg's demonic violin sonata no. 3 alone would have IMO been more than enough to put him in top 11.
I originally wasn't going to add Haydn or Mozart (instead I probably would have added Dvorak and Debussy/Ravel) since I am much more romantic or modern music guy but considering how much influence two of them have had in development of chamber music (Haydn practically invented string quartet) I ultimately decided to keep them in.

Fair enough.
If I would allow someone to get in my list on the basis of one work, that would mean I would have to find room for composers like Enescu, Prokofiev (well, not only because of one work..), Dutilleux, Berg, and Pärt, so I needed some excuse to make compiling this list a bit easier. 

Agreed, Haydn has definitely earned his place on this list.

[milk]

Morton Feldman goes on my list. I didn't even know who he was six months ago. 

[Ken B]

Morton Feldman goes on my list. I didn't even know who he was six months ago.

It's great to make discoveries like that.

[DavidW]

Bach
Haydn
Mozart
Beethoven
Schubert
Dvorak
Mendelssohn
Brahms
Faure
Bartok
Shostakovich

[EigenUser]

It's great to make discoveries like that.

I thought that you didn't like Feldman, Ken.

[Mirror Image]

Poulenc, Shostakovich, Faure, Debussy, Ravel, Martinu, Schumann, Bartok, Brahms, Ives, Bax

[Ken B]

I thought that you didn't like Feldman, Ken.

No, you just misunderstood my Jewish New York accent. You commented something about NY accent, and so sad he died in the 80s. I made fake accent tags around "The 70 s would be better maybe? "

But I'm just observing its nice to find new composers you really like.

[Jaakko Keskinen]

Fair enough.
If I would allow someone to get in my list on the basis of one work, that would mean I would have to find room for composers like Enescu, Prokofiev (well, not only because of one work..), Dutilleux, Berg, and Pärt, so I needed some excuse to make compiling this list a bit easier. 

To me it's not the quantity but quality that matters 

[North Star]

To me it's not the quantity but quality that matters 

Says a Wagner fan  0:)