In
music
Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspect ...
, a nonet is a composition which requires nine musicians for a performance, or a musical group that consists of nine people. The standard nonet scoring is for
wind quintet
A wind quintet, also known as a woodwind quintet, is a group of five wind players (most commonly flute, oboe, clarinet, French horn and bassoon).
Unlike the string quartet (of 4 string instruments) with its homogeneous blend of sound color, the in ...
, violin, viola, cello, and contrabass, though other combinations are also found.
Classical nonets
The first work to actually bear the title of nonet was
Louis Spohr
Louis Spohr (, 5 April 178422 October 1859), baptized Ludewig Spohr, later often in the modern German form of the name Ludwig, was a German composer, violinist and conductor. Highly regarded during his lifetime, Spohr composed ten symphonies, ...
's Grand Nonetto in F major, op. 31 (1813), for
flute
The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...
,
oboe
The oboe ( ) is a type of double reed woodwind instrument. Oboes are usually made of wood, but may also be made of synthetic materials, such as plastic, resin, or hybrid composites. The most common oboe plays in the treble or soprano range.
A ...
, clarinet, bassoon, horn,
violin
The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...
,
viola
The viola ( , also , ) is a string instrument that is bow (music), bowed, plucked, or played with varying techniques. Slightly larger than a violin, it has a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of ...
,
cello
The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a Bow (music), bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), t ...
, and
double bass
The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or #Terminology, by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched Bow (music), bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox addit ...
. Earlier compositions, however, had been composed for nine instruments (
Joseph Haydn
Franz Joseph Haydn ( , ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions ...
's four ''
Divertimenti
''Divertimento'' (; from the Italian '' divertire'' "to amuse") is a musical genre, with most of its examples from the 18th century. The mood of the ''divertimento'' is most often lighthearted (as a result of being played at social functions) and ...
'' (or ''
Cassations''), for 2 oboes, 2 horns, 2 violins, 2 violas, and contrabass,
Hob. II:9, 17
clarinets instead of oboes 20, and G1,
Ignaz Pleyel
Ignace Joseph Pleyel (; ; 18 June 1757 – 14 November 1831) was an Austrian-born French composer, music publisher and piano builder of the Classical period.
Life Early years
He was born in in Lower Austria, the son of a schoolmaster named Ma ...
's ''Nocturne'' of 1785, for 2 clarinets, 2 horns, 2 violas, contrabass, and 2 hurdy-gurdies, and
Franz Schubert
Franz Peter Schubert (; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. Despite his short lifetime, Schubert left behind a vast ''oeuvre'', including more than 600 secular vocal wor ...
's ''
Eine kleine Trauermusik
Franz Schubert (31 January 1797 – 19 November 1828) was an extremely prolific Austrian composer. He composed some 1500 works (or, when collections, cycles and variants are grouped, some thousand compositions). The largest group are the lieder ...
'' of 1813 (D 79), for two
clarinet
The clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The instrument has a nearly cylindrical bore and a flared bell, and uses a single reed to produce sound.
Clarinets comprise a family of instruments of differing sizes and pitches ...
s, two
bassoon
The bassoon is a woodwind instrument in the double reed family, which plays in the tenor and bass ranges. It is composed of six pieces, and is usually made of wood. It is known for its distinctive tone color, wide range, versatility, and virtuo ...
s,
contrabassoon
The contrabassoon, also known as the double bassoon, is a larger version of the bassoon, sounding an octave lower. Its technique is similar to its smaller cousin, with a few notable differences.
Differences from the bassoon
The reed is consi ...
, two
horn
Horn most often refers to:
*Horn (acoustic), a conical or bell shaped aperture used to guide sound
** Horn (instrument), collective name for tube-shaped wind musical instruments
*Horn (anatomy), a pointed, bony projection on the head of various ...
s, and two
trombone
The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the Brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the Standing wave, air column ...
s).
The Spohr ensemble as standard
Louis Spohr's nonet was so successful that its instrumentation became the standard for subsequent emulation down to the present time. The many composers who wrote for this combination include
Louise Farrenc
Louise Farrenc (née Jeanne-Louise Dumont; 31 May 1804 – 15 September 1875) was a French composer, virtuoso pianist and teacher of the Romantic period. Her compositions include three symphonies, a few choral works, numerous chamber pieces and a ...
(op. 38, 1849),
Georges Onslow
André George(s) Louis Onslow (27 July 1784 – 3 October 1853) was a French composer of English descent. His wealth, position and personal tastes allowed him to pursue a path unfamiliar to most of his French contemporaries, more similar to that ...
(op. 77, 1851),
Franz Lachner
Franz Paul Lachner (2 April 1803 – 20 January 1890) was a German composer and conductor.
Biography
Lachner was born in Rain am Lech to a musical family (his brothers Ignaz, Theodor and Vinzenz also became musicians). He studied music with Si ...
(
Nonet in F major 1875),
Josef Rheinberger
Josef Gabriel Rheinberger (17 March 1839 – 25 November 1901) was a Liechtensteiner organist and composer, residing in Bavaria for most of his life.
Life
Josef Gabriel Rheinberger, whose father was the treasurer for Aloys II, Prince of Liecht ...
(op. 139, 1884), and
Tilo Medek
Tilo Medek, originally Müller-Medek (22 January 1940 – 3 February 2006), was a German classical composer, musicologist and music publisher. He grew up in East Germany, but was inspired by the Darmstädter Ferienkurse. He composed radio plays and ...
(Nonet in Nine Movements, 1974). Other works, though not actually titled "nonet", followed the same pattern, such as René Leibowitz's Chamber Concerto (op. 10, 1944). In the 20th century this standard instrumentation was embodied especially by the Czech Nonet, for whom works were composed by
Josef Bohuslav Foerster
Josef Bohuslav Foerster (30 December 1859 – 29 May 1951) was a Czechs, Czech composer and musicologist. He is often referred to as J. B. Foerster, and his surname is sometimes spelled Förster.
Life
Foerster was born in Prague. His ancestors ...
(op. 147, 1931) and
Alois Hába
Alois Hába (21 June 1893 – 18 November 1973) was a Czech composer, music theorist and teacher. He belongs to the important discoverers in modern classical music, and major composers of microtonal music, especially using the quarter-tone scal ...
, whose first two nonets are titled ''Fantazie'', opp. 40 and 41 (1931 and 1932), followed by Nonet No. 3, op. 82, and Nonet No. 4, op. 97.
Bohuslav Martinů
Bohuslav Jan Martinů (; December 8, 1890 – August 28, 1959) was a Czech composer of modern classical music. He wrote 6 symphonies, 15 operas, 14 ballet scores and a large body of orchestral, chamber, vocal and instrumental works. He bec ...
dedicated his 1959 Nonet to the Czech Nonet on the occasion of its 35th anniversary.
Subsequent non-standard ensembles
One late-19th-century, slightly non-standard example is
Samuel Coleridge-Taylor
Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (15 August 18751 September 1912) was a British composer and conductor.
Of mixed-race birth, Coleridge-Taylor achieved such success that he was referred to by white New York musicians as the "African Mahler" when ...
's 1894 Nonet in F minor, for an ensemble in which a
piano
The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...
replaced the flute.
The non-standard instrumentations used by
Hanns Eisler
Hanns Eisler (6 July 1898 – 6 September 1962) was an Austrian composer (his father was Austrian, and Eisler fought in a Hungarian regiment in World War I). He is best known for composing the national anthem of East Germany, for his long artisti ...
were different in each of his two nonets: his 1939 Nonet No. 1 is composed for flute, clarinet, bassoon, horn, two violins, viola, violoncello, and double bass, while his 1941 Nonet No. 2 is for flute, clarinet, bassoon, trumpet, percussion, three violins, and double bass.
Many nine-instrument works for other combinations than the standard Spohr ensemble have been composed since 1900, but often depart from chamber-music textures and mostly are given titles suggesting small orchestral forces. Examples include
Darius Milhaud
Darius Milhaud (; 4 September 1892 – 22 June 1974) was a French composer, conductor, and teacher. He was a member of Les Six—also known as ''The Group of Six''—and one of the most prolific composers of the 20th century. His compositions ...
's chamber symphony ''
Le printemps
Printemps (; meaning " springtime" in French) is a French department store chain (french: grand magasin, links=no, literally "big store"). The Printemps stores focus on beauty, lifestyle, fashion, accessories, and men's wear. The Printemps ...
'', op. 43 (1917),
Egon Kornauth's ''Kammermusik'', op. 31 (1924),
Ernst Krenek
Ernst Heinrich Krenek (, 23 August 1900 – 22 December 1991) was an Austrian, later American, composer of Czech origin. He explored atonality and other modern styles and wrote a number of books, including ''Music Here and Now'' (1939), a study ...
's ''Sinfonische Musik'' for nine solo instruments, op. 11 (1922), Bruno Stürmer's Suite, op. 9 (1923), and
Anton Webern
Anton Friedrich Wilhelm von Webern (3 December 188315 September 1945), better known as Anton Webern (), was an Austrian composer and conductor whose music was among the most radical of its milieu in its sheer concision, even aphorism, and stea ...
's Symphony, op. 21 (1928) and
Concerto, op. 24 (1931–34). On the other hand,
Heitor Villa-Lobos
Heitor Villa-Lobos (March 5, 1887November 17, 1959) was a Brazilian composer, conductor, cellist, and classical guitarist described as "the single most significant creative figure in 20th-century Brazilian art music". Villa-Lobos has become the ...
's
Nonet, subtitled "Impressão rápida de todo o Brasil" (1923) exceeds the ensemble's nominal size by adding a
mixed choir
A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which sp ...
to the basic instrumentation of flute/piccolo, oboe, clarinet, alto/baritone saxophone, bassoon, celesta, harp, piano, and percussion—the latter requiring more than one player. The third of British composer
Peter Seabourne
Peter Seabourne (born 1960) is an English contemporary classical composer based in Lincolnshire, England.
Biography
Seabourne studied at Clare College, Cambridge with Robin Holloway, and University of York with David Blake.
In 1984 he was joi ...
's chamber concerti, ''Storyteller'', is a miniature double bass concerto accompanied by an octet of wind quintet and piano trio.
Iannis Xenakis
Giannis Klearchou Xenakis (also spelled for professional purposes as Yannis or Iannis Xenakis; el, Γιάννης "Ιωάννης" Κλέαρχου Ξενάκης, ; 29 May 1922 – 4 February 2001) was a Romanian-born Greek-French avant-garde ...
composed many chamber-music works for comparatively large numbers of instruments. Among them are the nonets ''Akanthos'', for soprano, flute, clarinet, piano, 2 violins, viola, cello and double bass (1977), ''Kaï'', for flute, clarinet, bassoon, trumpet, trombone, violin, viola, cello, and contrabass (1995), and ''Kuïlenn'', for the classical 18th-century serenade scoring favoured by the
Netherlands Wind Ensemble
The Netherlands Wind Ensemble ( nl, Nederlands Blazers Ensemble, NBE) comprises musicians from all the major Dutch symphony orchestras.
The NBE is regularly featured in special concert series at Amsterdam’s main venues: the Concertgebouw, Para ...
, for whom it was written: flute, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, and 2 horns (1995).
Brian Ferneyhough
Brian John Peter Ferneyhough (; born 16 January 1943) is an English composer. Ferneyhough is typically considered the central figure of the New Complexity movement. Ferneyhough has taught composition at the Hochschule für Musik Freiburg and ...
's ''Terrain'' (1992), is scored for nine instruments, but is for solo violin accompanied by an
octet
Octet may refer to:
Music
* Octet (music), ensemble consisting of eight instruments or voices, or composition written for such an ensemble
** String octet, a piece of music written for eight string instruments
*** Octet (Mendelssohn), 1825 compos ...
consisting of flute (+ piccolo), oboe (+ cor anglais), clarinet (+ bass clarinet), bassoon, horn, trumpet, trombone, and double bass.
String nonets
String-only nonets have also been composed, notably by (Nonet op. 150, 1911, 4 Violins, 2 violas, 2 cellos, and double bass) and
Aaron Copland
Aaron Copland (, ; November 14, 1900December 2, 1990) was an American composer, composition teacher, writer, and later a conductor of his own and other American music. Copland was referred to by his peers and critics as "the Dean of American Com ...
(1960, 3 Violins, 3 violas, 3 cellos).
Iannis Xenakis
Giannis Klearchou Xenakis (also spelled for professional purposes as Yannis or Iannis Xenakis; el, Γιάννης "Ιωάννης" Κλέαρχου Ξενάκης, ; 29 May 1922 – 4 February 2001) was a Romanian-born Greek-French avant-garde ...
's ''Analogique A'' (1958) is also a string nonet, but must be performed with a companion tape work, ''Analogique B''.
Wind nonets
Nonets for ensembles constituted exclusively of wind instruments have also been composed, for example:
*For flute, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 2 horns by:
**Werner J. E. De Bleser: ''Mouvements pour Orchestre à Vent''
**
Théodore Gouvy
Louis Théodore Gouvy (3 July 1819 – 21 April 1898) was a French/German composer.
Biography
Gouvy was born into a French-speaking family in the village of Goffontaine, then a Prussian village in the Sarre region (now Saarbrücken-Schafbrücke, ...
: ''Petite Suite Gauloise'', Op. 90
**
Charles Gounod
Charles-François Gounod (; ; 17 June 181818 October 1893), usually known as Charles Gounod, was a French composer. He wrote twelve operas, of which the most popular has always been ''Faust (opera), Faust'' (1859); his ''Roméo et Juliette'' (18 ...
: ''Petite symphonie''
**
Gaetano Donizetti
Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti (29 November 1797 – 8 April 1848) was an Italian composer, best known for his almost 70 operas. Along with Gioachino Rossini and Vincenzo Bellini, he was a leading composer of the '' bel canto'' opera style dur ...
: Sinfonia for Winds in G minor, A 509
*For flute, oboe, cor anglais, 2 clarinets, 2 horns and 2 bassoons:
**
Hubert Parry
Sir Charles Hubert Hastings Parry, 1st Baronet (27 February 18487 October 1918) was an English composer, teacher and historian of music. Born in Richmond Hill in Bournemouth, Parry's first major works appeared in 1880. As a composer he is b ...
:
Wind Nonet
*For 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 2 horns, trumpet:
**
Franz Schubert
Franz Peter Schubert (; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. Despite his short lifetime, Schubert left behind a vast ''oeuvre'', including more than 600 secular vocal wor ...
: 6 Minuets for Winds, D.2d, and Trio of a Minuet, D.2f
**
Josef Triebensee
Josef Triebensee (Trübensee) (November 21, 1772 Třeboň - April 22, 1846 Prague) was a Bohemian composer and oboist.
He studied composition with Albrechtsberger and oboe with his father, Georg Triebensee (January 28, 1746-June 14, 1813). He se ...
: ''Miscellanées de Musique'', volume 3, Opp. 4-6
*For 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, contrabassoon, 2 horns:
**
Franz Krommer
Franz Krommer ( cz, František Vincenc Kramář; 27 November 1759 in Kamenice u Jihlavy – 8 January 1831 in Vienna) was a Czech composer of classical music and violinist. He was one of the most popular composers in the 19th century Vienna. ...
Five pieces titled 'Harmonie' and a 'Partita'
See also
*
Chamber music
Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small numb ...
References
Sources
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Types of musical groups