Did You Know: Only a Single Well-Known Composer Has Written One or More Works for Duo, Trio, Quartet, Quintet, Sextet, Septet, Octet, and Nonet Configurations?

By Robert Markow | From the May/June 2025 issue of Strings

That composer is Louis Spohr (1784–1859). Ensembles for nine instruments had been written before Spohr’s example in 1813, but his was the first to use this description in the title: Grand Nonetto in F major, Op. 31 (five winds, four strings).

Although history has consigned Spohr to the rank of “good second-class composer,” it is worth remembering that during his lifetime he was regarded as one of the greatest musical figures of his time—the equal of Beethoven, and superior, in the opinion of many, to Schubert, Weber, Mendelssohn, and Berlioz.

Working backward down the list, you’ll find not only an octet for mixed winds and strings, but four works titled “Double String Quartet,” which are, of course, written for eight musicians, but specifically as two four-part ensembles. There is a septet for mixed strings and winds, and a sextet for strings. Of quintets, there are seven for strings (with two violas), plus two piano quintets, a quintet for piano and winds, and a Potpourri on Themes by Mozart for violin and string quartet (double bass ad lib). Quartets? No fewer than 36 for the standard foursome, plus other works for violin and string trio. No string trios, but there are five with piano.

As Spohr was one of the great violinists of his age, it comes as no surprise to learn that he wrote numerous duos for his instrument with piano accompaniment, plus over a dozen duos for two violins, nearly a dozen for violin and harp (his wife’s instrument), and a duo for violin and viola.

Stay tuned to StringsMagazine.com for more on Spohr—one of music history’s most fascinating achievers.