The Octet in

F major F major (or the key of F) is a major scale based on F, with the pitches F, G, A, B, C, D, and E. Its key signature has one flat. Its relative minor is D minor and its parallel minor is F minor F minor is a minor scale based on F, consis ...

, D. 803 was composed by

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 ...

in March 1824. It was commissioned by the renowned clarinetist

Ferdinand Troyer Count Ferdinand Troyer (February 1, 1780 – July 23, 1851) was an Austrian noble, philanthropist, and amateur clarinettist. Born in Brünn (Brno), Moravia, Troyer became the chief steward to Archduke Rudolf of Austria-Tuscany. It was noted t ...

and came from the same period as two of Schubert's other major

chamber works 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 ...

, the 'Rosamunde' and 'Death and the Maiden'

string quartet The term string quartet can refer to either a type of musical composition or a group of four people who play them. Many composers from the mid-18th century onwards wrote string quartets. The associated musical ensemble consists of two violinists ...

Structure

Consisting of six

movements Movement may refer to: Common uses * Movement (clockwork), the internal mechanism of a timepiece * Motion, commonly referred to as movement Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * "Movement" (short story), a short story by Nancy Fu ...

, the Octet takes almost an hour to perform. #''Adagio – Allegro – Più allegro'' #''Adagio'' #''Allegro vivace – Trio – Allegro vivace'' #''Andante – variations. Un poco più mosso – Più lento'' #''Menuetto. Allegretto – Trio – Menuetto – Coda'' #''Andante molto – Allegro – Andante molto – Allegro molto'' The Octet boasts the largest scale for any chamber work by Schubert. It is scored for a

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 ...

, a

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 ...

, a

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 ...

, two

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 ...

s, a

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 ...

, a

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 a

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 ...

. This instrumentation is similar to that of the Beethoven Septet, differing only by the addition of a second violin.

Background

In response to a reported request by Troyer for a work similar to

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classical ...

's Septet, Op. 20, Schubert composed the Octet in early 1824. The work was first performed at the home of Troyer's employer, the

Archduke Rudolf en, Rudolph Francis Charles Joseph , caption = Rudolf in 1887 , spouse = , issue = Elisabeth Marie, Princess Otto of Windisch-Graetz , house = Habsburg-Lorraine , father = Franz Joseph I of Austria , mother ...

(to whom Beethoven's

Archduke Trio Archduke (feminine: Archduchess; German: ''Erzherzog'', feminine form: ''Erzherzogin'') was the title borne from 1358 by the Habsburg rulers of the Archduchy of Austria, and later by all senior members of that dynasty. It denotes a rank withi ...

is dedicated) and included many of the musicians who premiered the Septet.

Analysis

The basic structure of the movements is similar to those of the Septet, as are many of the key relationships between the movements and principal key (E-flat for the Septet, F major of the Octet). The theme of the first movement is derived from Schubert's song "

Der Wanderer "Der Wanderer" ( D 489) ormerly D 493is a lied composed by Franz Schubert in October 1816 for voice and piano. A revised version was published near the end of May 1821 as opus 4, number 1. The words are taken from a German poem by Georg Phili ...

". The fourth movement variations are based on a theme from Schubert's Singspiel ''

Die Freunde von Salamanka ''Die Freunde von Salamanka'' D.326 is an 1815 singspiel in two acts by Franz Schubert to a libretto by Johann Mayrhofer. The score, overture and eighteen numbers, is for three sopranos, three tenors, six basses, mixed choir and orchestra: :: Akt ...

''.

Recordings

The

Pascal Quartet The Pascal Quartet was a French string quartet musical ensemble which took shape during the early 1940s and emerged after World War II to become a leading representative of the French performance tradition. It was named after its founder, the viol ...

with Jacques Dumont, violin I, Maurice Crut, violin II, Léon Pascal, viola and Robert Salles, cello, recorded the Octet in the early 1950's for the label (

Musical Masterpiece Society Concert Hall Society, Inc., was a New York City-based membership-subscription-oriented record production and distribution company founded in 1946 by Samuel Mulik Josefowitz (1921–2015) and David Josefowitz (1918–2015), brothers. The New York o ...

MMS-2219). The

Melos Ensemble The Melos Ensemble is a group of musicians who started in 1950 in London to play chamber music in mixed instrumentation of string instruments, wind instruments and others. Benjamin Britten composed the chamber music for his '' War Requiem'' for th ...

was founded to perform works such as the Octet for wind instruments and strings. The Octet was recorded in 1967 with

Gervase de Peyer Gervase Alan de Peyer (11 April 1926 – 4 February 2017) was an English clarinettist and conductor. Professional career Gervase Alan de Peyer was born in London, the eldest of three children of Everard Esmé Vivian de Peyer, and his wife, Edith ...

(

), William Waterhouse (

), Neill Sanders (

Emanuel Hurwitz Emanuel Hurwitz (7 May 1919 – 19 November 2006) was a British violinist. He was born in London to parents of Russian-Jewish ancestry. He started playing the violin when he was five years old, and took up a scholarship at the Royal Academy of ...

and

Ivor McMahon Ivor McMahon (1924–1972) was an English violinist. He played with notable orchestras including the Philharmonia Orchestra and the English Chamber Orchestra and is best known for playing second violin in the Melos Ensemble. Career In ...

(

Cecil Aronowitz Cecil Aronowitz (4 March 19167 September 1978) was a British viola player, a founding member of the Melos Ensemble, a leading chamber musician and an influential teacher at the Royal College of Music and the Royal Northern College of Music. ...

(

Terence Weil Terence Weil (9 December 1921 in London – 25 February 1995 in Figueras) was a British cellist, principal cellist of the English Chamber Orchestra, a founding member of the Melos Ensemble, a leading chamber musician and an influential teache ...

(

) and

Adrian Beers Adrian Simon Beers MBE (6 January 1916 – 8 April 2004) was a British double bass player and teacher at the Royal College of Music and the Royal Northern College of Music. He was a principal player in the Philharmonia Orchestra and the Eng ...

(

). A recording of the chamber ensemble of the

Academy of St Martin in the Fields The Academy of St Martin in the Fields (ASMF) is an English chamber orchestra, based in London. John Churchill, then Master of Music at the London church of St Martin-in-the-Fields, and Neville Marriner founded the orchestra as "The Academy o ...

with

Iona Brown Iona Brown, OBE, (7 January 19415 June 2004) was a British violinist and conductor. Early life and education Elizabeth Iona Brown was born in Salisbury and was educated at Cranborne Chase School, Dorset. Her parents, Antony and Fiona, were ...

(violin I) and Timothy Brown (horn) won a

Grand Prix du Disque Grand may refer to: People with the name * Grand (surname) * Grand L. Bush (born 1955), American actor * Grand Mixer DXT, American turntablist * Grand Puba (born 1966), American rapper Places * Grand, Oklahoma * Grand, Vosges, village and co ...

. The Camerata Freden recorded it in 2003 with

Adrian Adlam Adrian Adlam (born 24 December 1963) is a British violinist, conductor and music educator. He was educated at Westminster Abbey, Winchester College, Conservatoire Royale de Musique of Brussels and the Hochschule fur Musik, Hanover. Adlam has ...

(violin I), Cristiano Gualco (violin II), Michael Hesselink (clarinet), Marjolein Dispa (viola), Michel Dispa (cello), Ilka Emmert (double-bass), Letizia Viola (bassoon) and Ron Schaaper (horn).

Janine Jansen Janine Jansen (born 7 January 1978) is a Dutch violinist and violist. Early life and education Jansen was born in Soest in the Netherlands and came from a musical family. Her father plays organ, harpsichord and piano; from 1987 to mid-2011 h ...

(violin I) along with Gregory Ahss (violin II), Nimrod Guez (viola),

Nicolas Altstaedt Nicolas Altstaedt (born 1982) is a German classical cellist. Biography and career Altstaedt was born in Heidelberg, Germany. As a soloist, conductor, and artistic director, he performs repertoire spanning from early music to the contemporar ...

(cello), Rick Stotijn (double bass),

Andreas Ottensamer Andreas Ottensamer (born 4 April 1989) is an Austrian clarinettist and is one of the solo clarinettists of the Berlin Philharmonic. Life Born in Vienna, Ottensamer commenced his musical studies in 1999 at the University of Music and Performing ...

(clarinet), Fredrik Ekdahl (bassoon) and

Radek Baborák Radek Baborák (born 11 March 1976 in Pardubice, Czechoslovakia) is a Czech conductor and French horn player. Career Radek Baborák was born into a musical family. He commenced his horn studies at the age of eight under the tutelage of Karel Kre ...

(horn) performed, and (video) recorded, the piece at the International Chamber Music Festival 2015 in

Utrecht Utrecht ( , , ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city and a List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, pro ...

Notes

References

External links

*
Performance of the Octet on modern instruments
by the Musicians from Marlboro from the

Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum is an art museum in Boston, Massachusetts, which houses significant examples of European, Asian, and American art. Its collection includes paintings, sculpture, tapestries, and decorative arts. It was founded ...

MP3 MP3 (formally MPEG-1 Audio Layer III or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III) is a coding format for digital audio developed largely by the Fraunhofer Society in Germany, with support from other digital scientists in the United States and elsewhere. Origin ...

format {{Authority control Chamber music by Franz Schubert 1824 compositions Compositions for octet Compositions in F major