chamber music

a conversation with no conductor

chamber music is music for a room, written for two to ten players with no one waving a stick. every player is a soloist and an accompanist at once, which is why string quartets rehearse the way friends argue — over every comma.

the string quartet is the purest form: two violins, a viola, a cello, and four personalities. haydn invented the terms of the conversation; beethoven made it personal.

where to start

• schubert — string quintet in C, the second movement (for grief).
• dvořák — 'american' quartet (for homesickness).
• ravel — string quartet in F (for texture and color).
• shostakovich — string quartet no. 8 (for a century).