The chamber orchestra is a prototype of a symphony orchestra. Characteristic for him is a much smaller instrumental composition, compared to symphonic.
Instruction manual
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Chamber orchestras are the forerunners of symphony orchestras. Before the latter appeared in the 19th century, chamber orchestras performed secular music, sometimes accompanying vocalists. Their name comes from the Italian "camera" - "room, chamber", because chamber orchestras were a small group of musicians, often from 4 to 12 people. Often in the 17th century, such orchestras contained ducal courts.
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A distinctive feature of the chamber orchestra is that one part is performed by one musical instrument. In turn, in the symphony orchestra, thanks to a much larger composition, a group of musicians plays one part in unison.
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During the historical development of chamber music, chamber ensembles consisted of such musical instruments as a solo string or wind instrument and piano; two pianos or the piano, which was played four hands; one or two violins, viola and cello (string trio); violin, cello and piano; piano, violin, viola and cello.
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The instrumental composition of the chamber orchestra is unstable, because each particular piece requires the presence of certain musical instruments. But the core of any modern chamber orchestra is stringed instruments. Often the string group is represented by 6-8 violins, 2-3 violas, 2-3 cellos and double bass. For the performance of the general bass, the harpsichord and bassoon are included in the orchestra. Often, a chamber orchestra includes wind instruments. Since the 20th century, the composition of chamber orchestras has been characterized by freedom, as it were, by chance of composition, which is determined by the artistic design.
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The repertoire of most chamber orchestras includes works by Johann Sebastian Bach, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Antonio Vivaldi, Arcangelo Corelli, Tomaso Giovanni Albinoni, Georg Friedrich Handel, Georg Philipp Telemann and others. In addition, musicians perform works by contemporary composers.
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The format of a chamber orchestra is most convenient for functioning in small cities, since it does not require significant resources for maintenance, such as, for example, a symphony orchestra. Among chamber orchestras there are many world-famous groups. Among them, one can distinguish the English Chamber Orchestra, which has already recorded over 800 CDs with works of its own, and gives concerts around the world.
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