MUSIK

A musical ensemble is a group of people who perform instrumental or vocal music, typically known by a distinct name. In classical music, trios or quartets either blend the sounds of musical instrument families (such as piano, strings, and wind instruments) or group together instruments from the same instrument family, such asstring ensembles or wind ensembles. In jazz ensembles, the instruments typically include wind instruments (one or more saxophones, trumpets, etc.), one or two chordal "comping" instruments (electric guitar, piano, or organ), a bass instrument(electric bass guitar or double bass), and a drummer or percussionist. In rock ensembles, usually called rock bands, there are usually guitars and keyboards (piano, electric piano, Hammond organ, synthesizer, etc.) and a rhythm section made up of a bass guitar anddrum kit.

Contents   [hide]  1 Classical chamber music 1.1 Four parts 1.1.1 Strings 1.1.2 Wind 1.2 Five parts 1.3 Six or more instruments 2 Jazz ensembles 2.1 Three parts 2.2 Four parts 2.3 Larger ensembles 3 Rock and pop bands 3.1 Two parts 3.1.1 Example line-up 3.2 Three parts 3.2.1 Example line-up 3.3 Four parts 3.3.1 Example line-ups 3.4 Five parts 3.4.1 Line-up 3.5 Larger rock ensembles 3.5.1 Example line-up 4 Musical drama 5 Other western musical ensembles 6 See also 7 References 8 External links

[edit]Classical chamber music

The Kneisel String Quartet, led by Franz Kneisel, is an example of chamber music. This American ensemble debuted Dvořák's American Quartet, opus 96.

In Western Art music, commonly referred to as classical music, smaller ensembles are called chamber music ensembles. The terms duet, trio, quartet, quintet, sextet, septet,octet, nonet and dectet are used to describe groups of two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine and ten musicians, respectively. A group of eleven musicians, such as found in The Carnival of the Animals, is called either a "hendectet" or an "undectet" (seeLatin numerical prefixes). A solo is not an ensemble because it only contains one musician.

[edit]Four parts

Main article: Quartet

[edit]Strings

A string quartet usually consists of two violins, a viola and a cello. An upper string quartet features two violins and two violas. A lower string quartet features 1 viola, 2 cellos and a double bass.

[edit]Wind

A woodwind quartet usually features a clarinet, bassoon, flute and oboe. A brass quartet features 2 trumpets, a trombone and a tuba. A wind quartet features a horn, flute, oboe and bassoon. A lower wind quartet features a tuba, a bassoon, a bass clarinet and a trombone.

[edit]Five parts

Main article: Quintet

The string quintet is a common type of group. It is similar to the string quartet, but with two violas, two cellos, or more rarely, the addition of a double bass. Terms such as "piano quintet" or "clarinet quintet" frequently refer to a string quartet plus a fifth instrument. Thus, a piano quintet is usually a string quartet plus a piano. Mozart's Clarinet Quintet is similarly a piece written for an ensemble consisting of 2 violins, a viola, a cello and a clarinet, the last being the exceptional addition to a "normal" string quartet.

Other common groupings in classical music are the woodwind quintet, usually consisting of flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon and horn and the brass quintet, consisting of two trumpets, one french horn, a trombone and a tuba.

[edit]Six or more instruments

Main