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Octet (music)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In music, an octet is a musical ensemble consisting of eight instruments or voices, or a musical composition written for such an ensemble.

Octets in classical music

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Octets in classical music are one of the largest groupings of chamber music. Although eight-part scoring was fairly common for serenades and divertimenti in the 18th century, the word "octet" only first appeared at the beginning of the 19th century, as the title of a composition by Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia, whose Octet op. 12 (published posthumously in 1808) features the piano, together with flute, clarinet, 2 horns, 2 violins, and 2 cellos. Later octets with piano were written by Ferdinand Ries (op. 128, 1818, with clarinet, horn, bassoon, violin, viola, cello, and double bass), Anton Rubinstein (op. 9, 1856, with flute, clarinet, horn, violin, viola, cello, and double bass), and Paul Juon (Chamber Symphony, op. 27, 1907) (Kube 2001).

Octets tend to be scored in one of the following arrangements:

Octets in jazz

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Jazz ensembles of eight players will frequently be termed an octet. These ensembles may be for any combination of instruments, however the most common line-up is Trumpet, Alto Sax, Tenor Sax, Trombone, Guitar, Piano, Bass, Drums, with Guitar occasionally being swapped for another horn, for example Baritone Sax. The Jamil Sheriff Octet [1] is an example of a classic octet. Ornette Coleman's ensemble for the Free Jazz album (referred to as a double quartet) is an example of two quartets playing together at the same time.

Saxophonist David Murray leads a famous experimental jazz octet, the David Murray Octet.

The collaborations of trombonists J.J. Johnson and Kai Winding occasionally featured a trombone octet. Most notably on their 1956 record Jay and Kai + 6.

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  • British pop group The Dooleys were an eight-member group popular in the late 1970s/early 1980s.

Vocal octet

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A vocal octet is a choir, or performance by a choir, of eight separate parts, for example, an SSAATTBB (1st & 2nd Soprano, 1st & 2nd Alto, 1st & 2nd Tenor, Baritone, and Bass) choir.

See also

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Sources

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  • Antonov, Ivan Milkov. 2005. "A Catalogue of Twentieth-Century Cello Ensemble Music". DMA monograph. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College.
  • Griffiths, Paul. 2001. "Varèse, Edgard [Edgar] (Victor Achille Charles)". The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, second edition, edited by Stanley Sadie and John Tyrrell. London: Macmillan Publishers.
  • Kube, Michael. 2001. "Octet". The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, second edition, edited by Stanley Sadie and John Tyrrell. London: Macmillan Publishers.
  • Montagu, Jeremy. 2002. "Octet". In The Oxford Companion to Music, edited by Alison Latham. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press.

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