Decet (music)


In music, a decet—sometimes dectet, decimet, decimette, or even tentet—is a composition that requires ten musicians for a performance, or a musical group that consists of ten people. The corresponding German word is Dezett, the French is dixtuor. Unlike some other musical ensembles such as the string quartet, there is no established or standard set of instruments in a decet.

History

Of the ensemble types named according to the number of musicians in the group, the decet and the larger undecet, duodecet, etc., are names less common in music than smaller groupings. In the eighteenth century, ten-part ensembles were most often encountered in the genre of the wind serenade, or divertimento. Because the wind-serenade tradition was carried on during the 19th century primarily in France, the term dixtuor is somewhat more widely used in French than is its English equivalent, and French works figure most prominently in this ten-instrument configuration—most commonly the double wind quintet. One of the earliest examples to use the English term is the Decet for oboe, clarinet, horn, bassoon, piano, 2 violins, viola, cello, and contrabass by John Henry Griesbach. Perhaps the best-known work in this genre from the nineteenth century is Joachim Raff's Sinfonietta for ten winds, Op. 188.

Wind decets

String decets

Mixed-instrument decets

  • Benjamin Britten, Sinfonietta, Op. 1, for flute, oboe, clarinet, horn, bassoon, 2 violins, viola, violoncello, and double bass.
  • Sven-Erik Bäck, Decet, for wind quintet and string quintet.
  • Donte Davis, Decet No. 1 in D Minor, Op. 53, for flute, oboe, clarinet, horn, bassoon, 2 violins, viola, violoncello, and double bass.
  • Donte Davis, Decet No. 2 in G Minor, Op. 58, for 3 violins, 3 violas, 3 violoncellos, and double bass.
  • Théodore Dubois, Dixtuor, for flute, oboe, clarinet, horn, bassoon, 2 violins, viola, violoncello, and double bass.
  • Jean Françaix, Dixtuor, for flute, oboe, clarinet, horn, bassoon, 2 violins, viola, violoncello, and double bass.
  • Jean Françaix, Onze variations sur un thème de Haydn, for 9 winds and double bass.
  • Pierre Hasquenoph, Divertissement, for flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, horn, 2 violins, viola, violoncello, and double bass.
  • Gustav Helsted, Decet Op. 18, for flute, oboe, clarinet, horn, bassoon, 2 violins, viola, violoncello, and double bass.
  • György Ligeti, Fragment, for contrabassoon, bass trombone, contrabass tuba, percussion, harp, piano, harpsichord, and three contrabasses
  • Jerzy Maksymiuk, Decet, for flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, horn, piano, violin, viola, violoncello, and double bass.
  • Robert Moevs, Musica da camera, for flute/piccolo, clarinet, horn, 3 percussionists, harp, violin, viola, and cello
  • Steve Reich, 2 × 5, for 4 electric guitars, 2 bass guitars, 2 drum sets, and 2 pianos
  • Staffan Rejle, Decet for flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, horn, 2 violins, viola, cello, and double bass
  • Bogusław Schaeffer, Decet: for harp, prepared piano, violoncello, percussion, vibraphone, marimba, bassoon, trombone, and double bass
  • Peter Seabourne, Chamber Concerto No. 1 Adrift, for flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, horn, 2 violins, viola, cello, and double bass
  • Peter Seabourne, Chamber Concerto No. 2 Phantasy Caprices, for flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, horn, violin, viola, cello, double bass, and piano
  • Karlheinz Stockhausen, Kontra-Punkte, for flute, clarinet, bass clarinet, bassoon, trumpet, trombone, piano, harp, violin, and cello
  • Antoine Tisné, Caractères, for wind quintet, string quintet and percussion, for flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, horn, percussion, 2 violins, viola, violoncello, and double bass.
  • Robert Washburn, Concertino, for flute, oboe, 2 clarinets, bassoon, 2 trumpets, horn, trombone, and tuba.
  • Iannis Xenakis,
  • *Atrées, for flute, clarinet, bass clarinet, horn, trumpet, trombone, 2 percussionists, violin, and cello
  • *Amorsima-Morsima, for clarinet, bass clarinet, 2 horns, harp, percussion, and string quartet
  • *ST/10, for clarinet, bass clarinet, 2 horns, harp, percussion, 2 violins, viola, and cello

Opera