Nonet (music)
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In music, a nonet is a composition which requires nine musicians for a performance, or a musical group that consists of nine people. Unlike some other musical ensembles such as the string quartet, there is no established or standard set of instruments in a nonet. Composers of nonets often mix stringed instruments with winds, or woodwinds with brass, choosing the instruments so that each subgroup can form complete four-part harmony. For example, Franz Schubert's Eine kleine Trauermusik (1812) is for two clarinets, two bassoons, contrabassoon, two horns, and two trombones, while Louis Spohr's Nonet in F major (1813) and his contemporary George Onslow's op.77 (1846), are for flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, horn, violin, viola, cello, and double bass. Perhaps the most beautiful nonet - also in the Spohr-Onslow instrumentation - is Joseph Rheinberger's op.139 in E-flat (1884). Franz Lachner's such work in F minor dates from 1875.Heitor Villa-Lobos and Bohuslav Martinů are among the twentieth-century composers who have written nonets. Trumpeter Miles Davis also formed a Jazz nonet that was later known as "The Birth of the Cool".
