Composers at their best in Chamber Music?

[jerfilm]

A minority of one, I suspect, but one of my favorites in Martucci's......but then I'm a sucker for a lovely melody.....

[Alan Howe]

I agree that Kiel fits the profile. Draeseke, although he wrote a number of chamber music masterpieces, seems to me much more of an all-round composer. And I would say that his supreme masterpiece is the 3rd Symphony. Nevertheless, I am not surprised, Peter, that you have been so taken by his chamber music - and, if pushed, I might choose a work from that genre if asked to select just one to take to my desert island...

[febnyc]

A minority of one, I suspect, but one of my favorites in Martucci's......but then I'm a sucker for a lovely melody.....

Not really a minority of one - I, too, love Martucci's melodies.

But I'd rank his Piano Concertos equally with his lovely chamber works.

[Alan Howe]

A minority of one, I suspect, but one of my favorites in Martucci's......but then I'm a sucker for a lovely melody.....

Not really a minority of one - I, too, love Martucci's melodies.

But I'd rank his Piano Concertos equally with his lovely chamber works.

Me too. And the two symphonies, especially No.2. Therefore, in my view, Martucci doesn't really fit the profile.

BTW, to return to Friedrich Kiel, his Cello Sonata in G minor - actually his own transcription of his Viola Sonata - is sublime. It seems to me that cellists have far more material from which to choose than is often supposed!

[chill319]

Though not unsung, Gabriel Fauré comes to mind as a good test subject for Alan's follow-up hypothesis. He excelled at chamber music but has a marginal place in the orchestral repertory. Is GF less famous (I won't say 'well regarded') than symphonists Franck or Saint-Saens, who also wrote their share of chamber music?

[TerraEpon]

Even so, Faure's three most popular works by FAR as his Pavane (orchestra), Requiem (voices, chorus, and small orchestra), and Pelleas and Melisande (orchestra, though the sceclliane was originally a chamber piece for cello).

And Frank wrote one symphony, Saint-Saens only one of any sungness. The later of course has a VERY popular chamber work -- Carnival of the Animals -- though granted it's usually played with orchestra-sized strings instead of one to a part.

[Alan Howe]

I would say that, were it not for his Requiem, Fauré wouldn't be anything like as well known as he is. His reputation would rest largely on his chamber music, which in my opinion does represent his supreme achievement as a composer. Nevertheless, he is not an unsung...

Saint-Saëns was surely an all-rounder, as was Franck.

[Ilja]

My vote would to to Taneyev and Smetana, most of all. Smetana I find pretty insufferable as a symphonist, but almost all of his chamber pieces are superb. With Taneyev there isn't much I don't like, but I certainly prefer his piano quintet and piano quartets above anything else.

[FBerwald]

Glinka - With the exception of Ruslan and Lyudmila overture, I believe he's best at chamber especially the Grand Sextet, the unfinished Viola sonata

[ahinton]

I would say that, were it not for his Requiem, Fauré wouldn't be anything like as well known as he is. His reputation would rest largely on his chamber music, which in my opinion does represent his supreme achievement as a composer. Nevertheless, he is not an unsung...

No, indeed he isn't - what about his songs?!...

[Delicious Manager]

At the risk of going slightly off topic (or am I?), if you like Fauré's songs, you have to listen to those by Duparc. Simply ravishing!

[JimL]

Didn't Duparc die young?  If so, did he leave any chamber music?

[Delicious Manager]

He actually lived to a ripe old age of 85, dying in 1933. However, he had to stop composing in 1885 at the young age of 37 due to a brain condition known as neurasthenia, which rendered Duparc incapable ofcomposing anything ever again (tragic!). He was not a prolific composer during these early years and so left only a few works, nearly entirely songs. The only chamber music he left was a Flute Sonata.

[Alan Howe]

I would say that, were it not for his Requiem, Fauré wouldn't be anything like as well known as he is. His reputation would rest largely on his chamber music, which in my opinion does represent his supreme achievement as a composer. Nevertheless, he is not an unsung...

No, indeed he isn't - what about his songs?!...

Oops - quite forgot about those! Yes, he's a song-composer of the first rank, of course.

[Pengelli]

Everyone's heard of Faure,but I think some of his chamber music & instrumental music gets less attention than it deserves. I love all his orchestral music & would prefer to listen to it than the more gaudy brilliance & 'pop' tunes of Ravel,any day! But there certainly is a consensus of opinion around that his chamber & instrumental music is better.