...A wonderful piano quintet by Brahms...
...Back in the old days, before TV and Radio, there wasn't much to do at night. That is when people would gather at a friends house, eat some food...and play 'Chamber Music'...
Major Composers, Beethoven, Brahms, Bach, Vivaldi, etc...wrote string quartets, trios, etc, so people could enjoy their music. Sometimes, the Host would bring in Professionals...but, mostly...the Host and Visitors would all take turns playing the music, and having a delightful evening. We still do that to this day...I used to...when I was more active...travel to friends houses, have dinner, and play chamber music...and then eat a dessert and talk about the music. I often would travel with others, and we would get into a rental home at Tahoe...or Monterrey...and play music all Saturday and Sunday...and get a GOOD meal. *S* At Tahoe...the 1st Violinist insisted that we cross the border and gamble...I would just put my $10 worth of quarters into a slot machine...grab a few drinks...and go back to my room and get some sleep.
During breakfast, the 1st Violinist would regale us with tales of how he stayed up until 4:00 am...and won $83...we all just ate, and nodded.
...People who play chamber music can get very difficult...usually they are a very tight group, and are not friendly to outsiders. I experienced that, once, when I was at a chamber music retreat at a local college, that lasted the weekend. About 80 people attended, and the Organizers would put us into quartets or trios, and they would try to match the players to the same skill level. Chamber music isn't all the same...Haydn and Vivaldi can be easy to play, whereas Brahms, Mendelssohn and others are very difficult. I experienced, a few times, when a person of very low skills was placed in an Advanced quartet...and it wasn't fun for anyone.
...Anyway...I showed up...it was my second time in a year...and listed my skill level as 'Advanced'...but not 'Professional'. I looked at the assignments in the morning, and saw what I was going to be playing, and the room number. Unfortunately...I was NOT familiar with the Campus, and wandered about, with my cello strapped to my back, for about 15 minutes before I found the room...
(I had barged into the wrong room a couple times...the musicians politely directed me to go somewhere else...)
...I found the right room, and apologized for being late...the others were ready...and the 1st Violinist...a middle aged Germanic Man was GLARING at me! I had to take a few minutes to unpack, and tune, and he asked me how familiar I was with the work. I told him that I had never played it before, or even listened to it, and how fast he liked to take it. His face got VERY grim, and he barely looked at me as I played my open strings against his, to make sure that we both had the same idea of what an 'A 440' sounded like.
...So...we played...and he got very relieved when he saw, and heard, that I could read music and play fairly well. The pianist told me, later, that his cellist had cancelled at the end...and he was angry...figuring that he would get stuck with someone who could barely play, and music was something that he took very seriously. He was, BTW, a VERY good violinist, and he was familiar with pretty much ALL chamber music. So, here is the work we played...I REALLY like Brahms...
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https://youtu.be/BysbC8wKqN8...PS...Being able to play an instrument was very important in the old days...especially for women...a well bred woman could play a piano, violin, or other instrument.
During the "Gold Rush", Men would send for women from back East to marry and stay with them...and one of the MOST requested skills...was that the woman could play an instrument.
I guess that after a day of panning or working a rocker to gather gold, the Man just liked to sit back, eat dinner, smoke a pipe...and listen to his wife play an instrument.
