Page:The story of the flute (IA storyofflute1914fitz).djvu/204



"The neglected wind"Chamber pieces by great composersSpohr's NonettPieces for wind and pianoforteFor wind and stringsFor wind aloneLarger combinationsFor flutes alone.

" neglected wind" — one frequently meets this expression, and certainly in former times the phrase was amply justified as regards chamber music. In this respect the flute was even worse off than the oboe, clarinet, horn, or bassoon; Mozart and Beethoven have each written a fine quintett for these instruments with pianoforte, but neither has included the flute in any chamber work for wind alone. On looking down the list of compositions by the great writers of chamber music, one cannot fail to be struck by the comparatively small number in which the flute takes part. Cherubini, Mendelssohn, Schubert, Schumann, Brahms are not represented by a single item. Modern composers, however, are at length turning their attention to this hitherto untilled field, and there is now a very respectable amount of excellent chamber music for wind, either