On Monday, December 2, 2019 and back by popular demand, the Big Shoulders Ensemble will present an evening of spontaneous chamber music. The ensemble will perform in the manner chamber music was created – there is no set program – the musicians trade off performing chamber music that is familiar, new, and exciting – you can sit and focus as at a concert – or you can mix and enjoy conversations with musicians and friends.
Because of its intimate nature, chamber music has been described as “the music of friends.” For more than 100 years, chamber music was played primarily by amateur musicians in their homes, and even today, when chamber music performance has migrated from the home to the concert hall, many musicians, amateur and professional, still play chamber music for their own pleasure. Playing chamber music requires special skills, both musical and social, that differ from the skills required for playing solo or symphonic works.
Johann Wolfgang Goethe described chamber music (specifically, string quartet music) as “four rational people conversing.” This conversational paradigm – which refers to the way one instrument introduces a melody or motif and then other instruments subsequently “respond” with a similar motif – has been a thread woven through the history of chamber music composition from the end of the 18th century to the present. The analogy to conversation recurs in descriptions and analyses of chamber music compositions.
Join us for an evening of fun and spontaneous entertainment!
If you would like to attend this or other salons, please fill out and send your information on the contact form that you may access through the main menu above. Or you can click HERE.