Classical: Solo/Chamber Music

The term chamber music is pretty much self-descriptive, inasmuch as it's music intended for performance in a small space, rather than in a large public hall; face it, even the very rich couldn't generally accommodate an orchestra in the front parlor. For starters, let's begin with some of the oldest and most intimate sounds in chamber music: solo instruments from the Renaissance and Baroque periods. The courtly yet fluid style of guitarist Julian Bream fits William Byrd's "The Woods so Wild, Variations for Keyboard, MB 85" perfectly, an ideal balance of detachment and coziness. Cellist Yo-Yo Ma, on the other hand, brings a surprisingly romantic warmth to Bach's "Suite for Solo Cello No. 1 in G Major, BWV 1007: I. Prélude," particularly compared to, say, Rostropovich or even Casals. And everybody's favorite eccentric keyboard genius, Glenn Gould, demonstrates a command of technique in Bach's "Chromatic Fantasy In D Minor, BWV 903" that continues to astonish a quarter-century after his death.

In Next Steps, we jump forward to more Romantic times, and not only does the music get bigger, so do our players, as we feature ensembles, rather than soloists.

In our Next Steps, we don't only get bigger (ensembles rather than soloists), we also get newer, leaving the 1700s behind. You will rarely, if ever, get the chance to see a trio as talented as that of pianist Artur Rubinstein, cellist Gregor Piatigorsky, and violinist Jascha Heifetz — each massive as a soloist, but uncommonly attuned to one another in Mendelssohn's "Piano Trio No.1, in D Minor, Op.49, I. Molto allegro e agitato." Fortunately, you can hear them. Not quite so noted as soloists, but very highly regarded as a unit (and, sadly, disbanding in 2008 after 53 years of brilliant performances), the Beaux Arts Trio launch into a very muscular reading of Dvorak's "Piano Trio in E Minor, Op. 90, "Dumky": VI. Lento maestoso - Vivace, quasi movimento - Lento – Vivace," the strings and piano just barely restrained at times from a full gallop, though clearly champing at the bit. And Schubert's "String Quartet No. 14 in D Minor, D. 810 "Death and the Maiden": III. Scherzo (Allegro molto)," which was later adapted for orchestra by Mahler, receives what many critics regard as the definitive treatment from the Emerson String Quartet.

In Deep Cuts, we jump ahead to the turn of the century — the 20th century.

As you can tell from our journey, chamber music turns out to mean very different things to different composers, as it makes its journey from antiquity to the modern day. For those of you who think Schoenberg is all edges, angles, and dissonance, check out the Czech Philharmonic Sextet's recording of "Sextet for Strings: II. Adagio," which is as lyrical, dark, and gorgeous as a ripe fig. Though most people familiar with Holst's "The Planets" knows it in its orchestral form, Fiona York & John York have seamlessly adapted "The Planets Suite, Op. 32 (Four Hands, One Piano Version): V. Saturn, the Bringer of Old Age" for piano four-hand. And the Kronos Quartet manage to hold the center — remarkably — in composer Terry Riley's "Half-Wolf Dances Mad in Moonlight," the sort of wildly energetic, herky-jerk-change-filled composition you might imagine playing in Harry Haller's ears in Hermann Hesse's Steppenwolf, or in Rainer Maria Rilke's mind, wandering the boulevards in "Autumn Day."

It was just about a 100 years ago that composer Richard Henry Walthew coined perhaps the best simple description of chamber music, a form that had already been around for more than 300 years: "the music of friends." Usually performed by an ensemble containing a mere handful of players — generally fewer than a half-dozen, almost always shy of a dozen — chamber music was designed to be performed in private spaces (if you can call castles and palaces private places), rather than in big public halls. But what's it sound like? Kinda hard to draw a line around that one, except to say that it's relatively intimate: no 1812 Overture cannons, no Ode to Joy ginormous choruses. From soloists like cellist Yo-Yo Ma and pianist Glenn Gould dipping into Bach's Baroque treasure trove to ensembles like the Kronos Quartet bringing 20th century composer Terry Riley into the chamber music canon, we've got four centuries of gorgeous, evocative music just a keystroke away from your earbuds.