Anyone interested in Chamber Music?

Welcome to the thread and the forum, bantrybay. While, String Quartet is the most substantive and popular medium in the genre of Chamber Music, there are plenty to discover in other formats, like the indispensable to explore Piano Trios, the intimate but extremely interesting Piano Quartet and the mighty and almost Symphonic Piano Quintet. String Quintets offer a small but essential repertory with some of the most glorious and rewarding works.

In any case, as for your main interest, I believe Villa-Lobos String Quartets are of specific value, but, at least technically, they are challenging and rewarding pieces. Likewise, Millaud's String Quartets, for all their interest, are not in the same league as the one of a kind respective works of Debussy, Faure and Ravel (all masterpieces of the first order).

Kurtag and Ades are not at all my cup of tea, but, at least for Kurtag, there is a very fine SACD, on Neos, with the "Complete works for String Quartet" with the Athena Quartet, a German group quite good and devoted to contemporary composers.

For something "outside the obvious greats" (which ones do you mean, actually?), you may try the the double CD, on Praga, of the String Quartets by the Czech composer Victor Kalabis, performed most brilliantly by the Kocian and the Zemlinsky Quartets as well as the Martinu's (again with Kocian Quartet, on Praga) or the very exciting and quite interesting ones by Weinberg (with Danel Quartet, on  CPO, in six volumes).

Parla

Alex, "the obvious greats" are all the composers you mentioned (including the ones with "also" and the question mark) and they are not great only for you. Simply they are the essential listening of the great composers in Chamber Music (as well, since they composed great works outside the genre too). I trust we should include Faure (his Chamber Music output is outstanding, in every way), Dvorak (his Chamber opus is uneven, but the great works in the genre are second to none) and Franck, to mention the most obvious or what some call "essential listening" for the genre.

Another misconception is the one that Chamber Music starts with the Classical era and, particularly with Haydn. There is plenty to explore, in this genre, in Baroque and Rococo periods too: J.S. Bach and some of his most illustrious sons have some marvelous works for inspiring listening. Telemann, Buxtehude, Vivaldi and Corelli, Rameau and so on.

Individually, some composers created some of the most substantive works in Chamber Music. You may try the magnificent Piano Quartet by Chausson, the Piano Quartet and String Quartet by Lekeu, the Clarinet Quintet by Weber, to mention only few.

So, there is plenty to explore. Good hunting.

Parla

Alex, Tchaikovsky's String Quartets have an established position in the Chamber Music realm. The 1st is a gem and the third a very complex, long, difficult work in a very unusual key (but loved by the composer). Janacek's two String Quartets as well as Smetana's are superb to follow closely. Borodin's Second and the String Quintet are great works by any standard.

Hugh Wood, Rochberg and Schnittke leave me cold but not indifferent. Try instead Prokofiev, Britten, Adorno and, to some extent, Tippett.

Bach's "instrumental" music includes -in the general view- the Chamber works too, like the 6 sublime Violin/Harpsichord Sonatas (performed on modern Piano too), the 3 Viola da Gamba (or Cello)/Harpsichord (or Piano) Sonatas, the Flute Sonatas, the Trio Sonatas and various other works. Most of the "Concertos" are written in the form of expanded Chamber ones and, nowadays, there are quite a few recordings where the Violin, Harpsichord and most of the other Concertos are performed with single instruments for each voice, giving a very Chamber sense of them.

Likewise, Telemann, Corelli, Vivaldi etc. have wonderful Violin, Cello, Flute and Trio Sonatas, Quartets and Quintets for various combinations of instruments as well. Closer to Classical Chamber structure are the Sonatas, Trios, Quartets and Quintets by the sons of Bach (C.P.E. Bach is a must to study) along with Boccherini's vast and delightful output in the genre.

Parla

33lp, Chausson is another underrated, neglected, overlooked genius in the Classical Music realm. Apart from the two masterpieces you mentioned and his magnificent Symphony (a great couple with Franck's), he excelled in Chamber Music too, with few works, more or less like Franck.

His Piano Trio and the String Quartet are superb, but the Piano Quartet is his glorious masterpiece, second to none. There are few good recordings, not easily accessible though, since the best come from francophone groups or soloists, on francophone labels. From the rather easily obtainable, I would suggest the Spiegel Quartet, on MDG. They perform also Franck's monumental Piano Quintet. Another safe bet is the Aeon's very beautiful performance and very warm recording with the Schuman Quartet. However, if you can manage to find any copy from the marginal French label Alphee with the Ensemble Musique Oblique (they also perform Franck's Piano Quintet), don't ever miss it!

Finally, mostly for Chris, who live in Athens. There is an unbelievable recording of Chausson's Piano Quartet along with Brahms' third Piano Quartet with one of the very best Quartets in this genre, but destined to remain unknown due to the well-known situation of Classical Music in Greece. The Quartet is called Elemis and they have few recordings on a marginal (I guess all Classical labels in Greece are marginal) label called Subways. You may order it through their website: www.eratio-subways.net, with some good luck though (you have to use your ancient -or modern- Greek you may know, among other things). However, it's worth trying. They have a good catalogue of quite interesting CDs, by the way.

Parla