"Music Appreciation Class" What is the origin of the term chamber music?

[Narrator] Listen to part of a lecture in a music appreciation class.
[Professor]
    As you know, tonight’s the concert that I want you to attend so I’ll keep the class short today. Let me tell  Q23
you a little bit about the history of chamber music so you’ll be prepared to appreciate the music that you
hear tonight. The University Quartet is one of the best in the region so you’ll be hearing an excellent
example... anyway... about chamber music. From medieval times through the eighteenth century,
musicians in Europe had basically two options for employment—the church or the nobility. So... when
they weren’t creating pieces for religious occasions and performing at church functions... musicians
were playing in the chambers of stately homes. Now a chamber is the name for a room where guests  Q24
may be assembled, kind of like a hall. And because of their association with this room, this chamber, the
musicians who played. for the wealthy patrons came be known as chamber players.
    Chamber music is written to be performed by a relatively small group... more than one, but fewer
than a dozen musicians. I should tell you that pieces for more than eight players are unusual though,
and it’s very rare to see a conductor. It may surprise you to know that any combination of instruments
can be used for chamber music. The strings, woodwinds, and piano are so often associated with chamber
music and... uh... they remain the most popular, even today, but chamber music has been written
for other instruments as well.
    Well, the history of chamber music is usually divided into three distinct periods. In the Classical  Q28
Period ... and that extends from the mid seventeen hundreds to around 1820... so in the classical
period, chamber music, like many other expressions of the arts... it reacted to the extravagant  Q25
Baroque style by creating new structures; and these structures expressed simplicity; balance, and
order. It was the age of the Enlightenment with the ideals of logic and reason. So this translated into
compositions with one melodic line. Uh, the line... the melody... it was usually written for the violin
and all other instruments provided an accompaniment. Early chamber music in the Classical tradition
often included the recorder, the harpsichord, and the viola.
    Vienna was a... a... hub... of activity... for chamber music, and three composers dominated
the artistic scene. Franz Joseph Haydn is generally credited with organizing the string quartet, and he
produced more than 80 pieces for it... the quartet. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart also composed chamber
music, including not only quartets but also quintets, and trios with clarinet, and even piano sonatas.
    Since the music was relatively simple, many amateurs played for their own enjoyment. This was new,  Q25
but by then, music was being printed and more people had access to it. So music rooms became popular
and people played chamber music as a social activity.
    Well, it was Ludwig Von Beethoven who probably bridged between the Classical Period and the
Romantic Period, and I say that because his works were longer and... and perhaps more complex than  Q26
his predecessors. And I find this amazing since the later quartets were all created when he was totally
deaf. In any case, composers and performers were beginning to... to break free of the formal confines
of the Classical Period. Their works became increasingly more difficult, expressing some of the high
emotions of the nineteenth century, which, as you will recall the backdrop of that century... the French
and the American revolutions... they were defining moments. So Chopin, Liszt, and Wagner wrote
very little chamber music... because they preferred the emotional power of the full orchestra... or, uh,
the personal expression in a piano solo. It was also at about this time that Franz Schubert, Johannes
Brahms, Felix Mendelssohn, and Antonin Dvorak made their contributions, and they wrote melodic,
passionate compositions for chamber players. But now the music was more difficult to play, and the
patronage system was declining anyway, so... so most chamber music moved from the great homes
of the wealthy and into the concert halls, which were frequented by a growing middle class. And it was
a very creative period for chamber music, and professional chamber groups emerged during this time.
The composers probably felt a new freedom because they weren’t so much pressed to please their
patrons and they could explore their art.
    Well, at the turn of the century, the Modern Period ushered in an opportunity for even greater experimentation.
Painters were bringing Impressionism to the forefront of the artistic consciousness, and this  Q27
was reflected: musically in the work of Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel. Their chamber music was
considered revolutionary... Debussy and Ravel... because, unlike previous composers, their compositions
had recurring themes instead of a continuous melody. And there are a number of other
composers who wrote chamber music in the Modern Period but... but whether they’ll be remembered
is, well, a question to be answered by future historians. What we do know is that the Modernists
gave chamber music new combinations of instruments and arrangements. And as the music became
more... more... unexpected, often with unusual tonality, well, it also became even more difficult to
play and that meant that the scores for modern chamber music had to be played by very skilled ensemble
musicians.
    This evening, at the concert, the University Quartet will perform one of the Classical pieces by Hayden.
    You’ll hear the Quartet in D Minor, Opus 76, Number 2, Third Movement. There are two violins, one
cello, and one viola. So, that said... I’ll see you tonight.