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 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) . Octets tend to be scored in one of the following arrangements: •
String octet – This arrangement is made up entirely of strings.
Felix Mendelssohn's
Octet Op. 20 is an example, as are the octets of
George Enescu,
Dmitri Shostakovich,
Niels Gade, Carl Schuberth,
Johan Svendsen,
Carl Grädener,
Joachim Raff,
Woldemar Bargiel,
Hermann Graedener,
Reinhold Glière,
Ferdinand Thieriot,
Max Bruch, and
Airat Ichmouratov. • Double quartet – Double quartets are made up of two
string quartets, often arranged
antiphonally.
Louis Spohr composed four such octets between 1823 and 1847 (opp. 65, 77, 87 and 136), taking as a model a work by
Andreas Romberg. Later examples in this mode include works by
Nikolay Afanasyev (
Housewarming and
Le souvenir) and Mario Peragallo (
Music for Double Quartet, 1948), as well as
Darius Milhaud's paired 14th and 15th String Quartets Op. 291 (1948–49), which are composed to be playable simultaneously as an octet . • Cello octet – Eight cellos, a combination popularized by
Heitor Villa-Lobos in his
Bachianas Brasileiras nos. 1 (1930) and 5 (1938/1945), though technically these are for "cello orchestra" with a minimum of eight players. Villa-Lobos also arranged three of the preludes and four fugues from
Johann Sebastian Bach's
Well-Tempered Clavier for this ensemble. Several all-cello groups came into existence during the late 1970s and 1980s, notably the
Yale Cellos,
the 12 Cellists of the Berlin Philharmonic, and the Conjunto Ibérico cello octet, and their popularity caused a surge of interest in cello-ensemble writing among composers. Some of the most prominent to compose cello octets include
Luciano Berio (
Korót, 1998),
Sylvano Bussotti (
Poèsies à Maldoror, 1999),
Edison Denisov (
Hymne, 1995),
Morton Gould (
Cellos, 1984),
Sofia Gubaidulina (
Fata morgana: die tanzende Sonne, 2002),
Gordon Jacob (Cello Octet, 1981),
Arvo Pärt (version of
Fratres, (1983),
Steve Reich (
Cello Counterpoint, 2003),
Kaija Saariaho (
Neiges, 1998), and
Peter Sculthorpe (
Chorale, 1994). • Wind octet – Usually scored for 2
oboes, 2
clarinets, 2
horns, and 2
bassoons;
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and
Ludwig van Beethoven composed for this scoring, also known as
Harmonie , though only Beethoven actually titled his one work for this grouping "
Octet". The octets of
Franz Lachner (
Op. 156),
Theodore Gouvy (Op. 71) and
Carl Reinecke (
Op. 216) are scored for flute, oboe, 2 clarinets, 2 horns and 2 bassoons.
Igor Stravinsky's
Octet for wind instruments has an unusual scoring of
flute, clarinet, two bassoons, two
trumpets, and two
trombones.
George Antheil's Concerto for Chamber Orchestra is scored for an octet of flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, contrabassoon, horn, trumpet and trombone. • Wind and string octet – a combination of forces, popularized by
Franz Schubert (whose
Octet is for clarinet, bassoon,
horn, 2
violins,
viola,
cello, and
double bass). A number of ensembles have been formed with this instrumentation, including the Octuor de Paris, for whom
Iannis Xenakis composed
Anaktoria (1969). By contrast, the Octet by
Louis Spohr is scored for clarinet, 2 horns, violin, 2 violas, cello, and double bass.
Paul Hindemith wrote a less well-known piece for clarinet, bassoon, horn, violin, two violas, cello and double bass. Another important 20th-century octet for winds and strings is
Octandre by
Edgard Varèse (1923), for flute (doubling piccolo), oboe, clarinet (doubling E clarinet), bassoon, horn, trumpet, trombone, and double bass .
Alec Wilder composed a series of crossover octets between 1938 and 1940 which are scored for a quintet of woodwinds (flute, oboe, clarinet, bass clarinet, bassoon) backed by a rhythm section of harpsichord, double bass and drums. ==Octets in jazz==