Septet

For other uses, seeSeptet (disambiguation).

Aseptetis a formation containing exactly seven members. It is commonly associated with musical groups but can be applied to any situation where seven similar or related objects are considered a single unit, such as a seven-line stanza of poetry.

Group portrait of septet of jazz musicians with instruments and trophy, ca. 1920

Classical and romantic period

One of the most famous classical septets isBeethoven'sSeptet in E♭major,Op. 20, composed around 1799–1800, forclarinet,bassoon,horn,violin,viola,cello,anddouble bass.The popularity of Beethoven's septet made its combination of instruments a standard for subsequent composers, includingConradin Kreutzer(Op. 62, 1822),Franz Berwald,andAdolphe Blanc(Op. 40, ca. 1864),and, with small changes in the instrumentation,Franz Lachner(1824; violin, viola, violoncello, contrabass, flute, clarinet, horn),andMax Bruch(1849; No Opus; Clarinet, Horn, Bassoon, two Violins, Cello and Contrabass). WhenFranz Schubertadded a second violin in 1824 for hisOctet,he created a standard octet that influenced many other subsequent composers(Kube 2001).Camille Saint-Saëns'sSeptet in E♭major,Op. 65 (1881) is fortrumpet,piano,string quartet,and double bass.The English composerPercy Hilder Milescomposed his "Jupiter" Septet in Eb (1897) for the same forces as the Beethoven.

20th century

Themodern composerBohuslav Martinůwrote three septets: a group of six dances calledLes Rondesforoboe,clarinet, bassoon, trumpet, two violins, and piano (1930); a piece called Serenade No. 3 for oboe, clarinet, four violins, and cello (1932); andFantasiefortheremin,oboe, piano, and string quartet (1944).Darius Milhaudcomposed a string septet in 1964 forstring sextetand double bass.Paul Hindemithcomposed a wind septet in 1948 forflute,oboe, clarinet,bass clarinet,bassoon, horn, and trumpet.Hanns Eislercomposed 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 movieThe Circus.Two component works in the series ofChôrosby the Brazilian composerHeitor Villa-Lobosare 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), andNo. 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 obviouslychamber musicand may have titles pointing in other directions. Examples includeMaurice Ravel'sIntroduction and Allegro(1905),Rudi Stephan'sMusic for Seven String Instruments(1911),Leoš Janáček'sConcertino(1925),Arnold Schoenberg's Suite, Op. 29 (1925–26),Isang Yun'sMusic for Seven Instruments(1959),Aribert Reimann'sReflexionen(1966), andDieter Schnebel'sIn motu propriocanon for seven instruments of the same kind (1975) (Kube 2001).John Adamswrote his string septet,Shaker Loops,in 1978.

Jehan Alaincomposed theMesse modale en septuorin 1938 for seven parts, soprano, alto, flute and string quartet.

Popular music

BTS,one of the most popularK-popgroups fromSeoul,South Koreais an example of a septet.

References

• Kube, Michael. 2001. "Septet".The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians,second edition, edited byStanley SadieandJohn Tyrrell.London: Macmillan Publishers.

External links

• The dictionary definition ofseptetat Wiktionary