octet
formok-TET
An ensemble of eight musicians, or a composition written for eight performers.
An octet is a group of eight musicians performing together, or a work composed for eight parts. Mendelssohn's Octet for strings, written when the composer was just 16 years old, is one of the greatest chamber music works ever composed. Schubert's Octet for mixed winds and strings is another masterpiece of the form. Wind octets — typically pairs of oboes, clarinets, bassoons, and French horns — were popular in the Classical period for outdoor entertainment (Harmoniemusik). In jazz, an octet sits between the small combo and the big band, offering arranging possibilities while preserving some improvisational intimacy. Stravinsky's Octet for winds helped launch the neoclassical movement. The octet format tests a composer's skill in balancing and blending eight independent voices.
Mendelssohn composed his String Octet at age 16 — a work so mature and brilliant that many consider it the greatest piece of music ever written by a teenager.