The
modern composer Bohuslav Martinů wrote three septets: a group of six dances called
Les Rondes for
oboe, clarinet, bassoon, trumpet, two violins, and piano (1930); a piece called Serenade No. 3 for oboe, clarinet, four violins, and cello (1932); and
Fantasie for
theremin, oboe, piano, and string quartet (1944).
Darius Milhaud composed a string septet in 1964 for
string sextet and double bass.
Paul Hindemith composed a wind septet in 1948 for
flute, oboe, clarinet,
bass clarinet, bassoon, horn, and trumpet.
Hanns Eisler composed two septets, both scored for flute, clarinet, bassoon, and string quartet: Septet No. 1 Op. 92a ("Variations on American Children's Songs") (1941), and Septet No. 2 ("Circus") (1947), after Chaplin’s 1928 movie
The Circus. Two component works in the series of
Chôros by the Brazilian composer
Heitor Villa-Lobos are scored for seven instruments:
No. 3 (1925), subtitled "Pica-páo" (Woodpecker), is for clarinet, bassoon, saxophone, 3 horns, and trombone (or for male chorus, or for both together), and
No. 7 (1924), actually subtitled "Septet", is for flute, oboe, clarinet, saxophone, bassoon, violin, and cello (with tam-tam ad lib.). There are some 20th-century works for seven instruments for which it is difficult to be certain that the term "septet" should be extended, if they are not obviously
chamber music and may have titles pointing in other directions. Examples include
Maurice Ravel's
Introduction and Allegro (1905),
Rudi Stephan's
Music for Seven String Instruments (1911),
Leoš Janáček's
Concertino (1925),
Arnold Schoenberg's Suite, Op. 29 (1925–26),
Isang Yun's
Music for Seven Instruments (1959),
Aribert Reimann's
Reflexionen (1966), and
Dieter Schnebel's
In motu proprio canon for seven instruments of the same kind (1975) .
John Adams wrote his string septet,
Shaker Loops, in 1978.
Jehan Alain composed the
Messe modale en septuor in 1938 for seven parts, soprano, alto, flute and string quartet. == Popular music ==