17th cent.

At first the term merely distinguished an instrumental piece from a piece with voice, which was called a cantata......Click the link for more information.. About 1750 the string quartet with its related types—trio, quintet, sextet, septet, and octet—arose. As developed by Haydn and Mozart the quartet became the principal chamber-music form. It was used by Beethoven and Schubert, whose quartets are the last of the classical period, and by the chief composers of the romantic period—Mendelssohn, Schumann, Brahms, Dvořák, Franck, d'Indy, and Reger. In the early 20th cent. the coloristic possibilities of the quartet were exploited by Debussy and Ravel. More recently the different forms of chamber music have been used extensively for experiments in atonality, percussive rhythms, and serial techniques by such composers as Schoenberg, Bartók,Webern, Berg, Stravinsky, Sessions, and Piston.

Chamber Music

a specific type of music differing from that performed in theaters and concert halls; chamber works are designed to be performed in small halls and for domestic or “room” use (hence the name). Compositions of this type are written for small instrumental groups (from a single soloist to a chamber ensemble). The music is characterized by economy and subtle and detailed expressive effects; it has great potential for conveying lyrical emotions and spiritual nuances. Chamber music originated in the Middle Ages. Until the end of the 16th century the term was applied only to vocal genres; in the 17th century it was extended to instrumental music as well. In the 16th—18th centuries the term “chamber music” gradually came to mean secular music