In music, a duodecet—sometimes duodectet, or duodecimette—is a composition which requires twelve musicians for a performance, or a musical group that consists of twelve people. In jazz, such a group of twelve players is sometimes called a "twelvetet". The corresponding German word is Duodezett. The French equivalent form, douzetuor, is virtually unknown (in sharp contrast to ''dixtuor'', the French word for decet). Unlike some other musical ensembles such as the

string quartet The term string quartet can refer to either a type of musical composition or a group of four people who play them. Many composers from the mid-18th century onwards wrote string quartets. The associated musical ensemble consists of two violinist ...

, there is no established or standard set of instruments in a duodecet.

History

Of the ensemble types named according to the number of musicians in the group, the decet, undecet, duodecet, tredecet, etc., are names less common in music than smaller groupings (

quartet In music, a quartet or quartette (, , , , ) is an ensemble of four singers or instrumental performers; or a musical composition for four voices and instruments. Classical String quartet In classical music, one of the most common combinations ...

quintet A quintet is a group containing five members. It is commonly associated with musical groups, such as a string quintet, or a group of five singers, but can be applied to any situation where five similar or related objects are considered a single ...

, etc., up to

none None may refer to: *Zero, the mathematical concept of the quantity "none" *Empty set, the mathematical concept of the collection of things represented by "none" *''none'', an indefinite pronoun in the English language Music * ''None'' (Meshuggah ...

t). In the eighteenth century, twelve-part ensembles were most often encountered in the genre of the wind serenade,

divertimento ''Divertimento'' (; from the Italian '' divertire'' "to amuse") is a musical genre, with most of its examples from the 18th century. The mood of the '' divertimento'' is most often lighthearted (as a result of being played at social functions) and ...

nocturne A nocturne is a musical composition that is inspired by, or evocative of, the night. History The term ''nocturne'' (from French '' nocturne'' 'of the night') was first applied to musical pieces in the 18th century, when it indicated an ensemb ...

, or

partita Partita (also ''partie'', ''partia'', ''parthia'', or ''parthie'') was originally the name for a single-instrumental piece of music (16th and 17th centuries), but Johann Kuhnau (Thomaskantor until 1722), his student Christoph Graupner, and Johann ...

—for example,

Josef Reicha Josef Reicha (''Rejcha'') (12 February 1752 – 5 March 1795) was a Czech cellist, composer and conductor. He was the uncle of composer and music theorist Anton Reicha. Josef Reicha was born in Chudenice. In 1761 he moved to Prague, where ...

's ''Parthia ex D'', for 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 3 horns, 2 bassoons, and double bass, and the partitas for the same instrumentation by Reicha's colleague Johann Georg Feldmayr. In fact, the titles "

serenade In music, a serenade (; also sometimes called a serenata, from the :it:Serenata (musica), Italian) is a musical composition or performance delivered in honor of someone or something. Serenades are typically calm, light pieces of music. The term c ...

" and "

suite Suite may refer to: Arts and entertainment *Suite (music), a set of musical pieces considered as one composition ** Suite (Bach), a list of suites composed by J. S. Bach ** Suite (Cassadó), a mid-1920s composition by Gaspar Cassadó ** ''Suite' ...

" continue through the 19th century to be the preferred term for ensembles of twelve or thirteen instruments, especially winds (e.g.,

Wilhelm Berger Wilhelm Reinhard Berger (9 August 1861 – 16 January 1911) was a German composer, pianist and conductor. Life Berger's father, originally a merchant from Bremen, worked in Boston (where Berger was born) as a music shopkeeper and made a name for ...

's Op. 102 for 12 winds, Felix Mendelssohn's Op. 24 for 11 or 12 winds,

Max Reger Johann Baptist Joseph Maximilian Reger (19 March 187311 May 1916) was a German composer, pianist, organist, conductor, and academic teacher. He worked as a concert pianist, as a musical director at the Leipzig University Church, as a professor a ...

's Serenade for 12 winds, or

Richard Strauss Richard Georg Strauss (; 11 June 1864 – 8 September 1949) was a German composer, conductor, pianist, and violinist. Considered a leading composer of the late Romantic music, Romantic and early Modernism (music), modern eras, he has been descr ...

's Opp. 4 and 7, for 13 winds). The word "duodecet" remains rare as a genre title in the 20th century (exceptions are found amongst the works of Polish composers Barbara Buczek and

Bogusław Schaeffer Bogusław Julian Schaeffer (also Schäffer) (6 June 1929 – 1 July 2019) was a Polish composer, musicologist, and graphic artist, a member of the avantgarde "Cracow Group" of Polish composers alongside Krzysztof Penderecki and others. Schaeffe ...

), where works for twelve instruments or singers most often are given either a true title, or a genre title describing the form (e.g., " concertino", "suite", "

variations Variation or Variations may refer to: Science and mathematics * Variation (astronomy), any perturbation of the mean motion or orbit of a planet or satellite, particularly of the moon * Genetic variation, the difference in DNA among individual ...

"), often followed by a designator such as "for twelve instruments". The three "twelve-part inventions", variations 3 (12 solo violins), 5 (10 violas and 2 double basses), and 11 (12 wind instruments), in

Stravinsky Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky (6 April 1971) was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor, later of French (from 1934) and American (from 1945) citizenship. He is widely considered one of the most important and influential composers of the ...

's '' Variations: Aldous Huxley in memoriam'' (1963–64) have been designated "duodecets" by his biographer Eric Walter White.)

Vocal duodecets

Sylvano Bussotti Sylvano Bussotti (1 October 1931 – 19 September 2021) was an Italian composer of contemporary classical music, also a painter, set and costume designer, opera director and manager, writer and academic teacher. His compositions employ graphic n ...

. ''Siciliano, a francesco agnello'', for twelve male voices (1960)

String duodecets

* Julius Klengel. Hymnus für zwölf Violoncelli, Op. 57 (1920) * . ''Prelude, Lied and Scherzo'' for 12 violoncellos (1994) *

Anne Boyd Anne Elizabeth Boyd AM (born 10 April 1946) is an Australian composer and emeritus professor of music at the University of Sydney. Early life Boyd was born in Sydney to James Boyd and Annie Freda Deason Boyd (née Osborn). Her father died when ...

. ''Bencharong'', for string ensemble of twelve players (1977), violins (7), violas (2), cellos (2) and double bass. *

Cesar Bresgen Cesar Bresgen (16 October 1913 – 7 April 1988) was an Austrian composer. Biography He was born in Florence to Maria and August Bresgen, both artists. He spent his childhood in Zell am See, Munich, Prague, and Salzburg. From 1930 to ...

. ''Metamorphosis I'' (1983), for twelve strings: 7 violins, 2 violas, 2 violoncellos, and double bass * Barbara Buczek. Duodecet for strings (1976) * James Dillon. ''Introitus'', for twelve strings (6 violins, 2 violas, 2 violoncellos, and 2 double basses), tape, and live electronics (1993) *

Helmut Eder Helmut Eder (December 26, 1916, Linz – February 8, 2005, Salzburg) was an Austrian composer. Eder studied until 1948 at the Linz Conservatory, later studying with Johann Nepomuk David in Stuttgart and Carl Orff in Munich. Returning to Linz, h ...

. Concerto a dodici per archi, Op. 38 (1964) *

György Ligeti György Sándor Ligeti (; ; 28 May 1923 – 12 June 2006) was a Hungarian-Austrian composer of contemporary classical music. He has been described as "one of the most important avant-garde composers in the latter half of the twentieth century" ...

. '' Ramifications'', for string orchestra or 12 solo strings (pub. 1970) *

. ''Monophonie V'', for 12 cellos (1999) *

. Duodecet, for 12 cellos (2005) * Thomas Simaku. ''Plenilunio'', for twelve solo strings (7 violins, 2 violas, 2 violoncellos, and double bass) (1998) *

James Tenney James Tenney (August 10, 1934 – August 24, 2006) was an American composer and music theorist. He made significant early musical contributions to plunderphonics, sound synthesis, algorithmic composition, process music, spectral music, microto ...

. ''For 12 Strings (Rising)'', for 4 violins, 3 violas, 3 violoncellos, 2 double basses (1971) * Ronald Tremain. ''Five Epigrams'', for twelve solo strings (1964)

Wind duodecets

Milton Babbitt Milton Byron Babbitt (May 10, 1916 – January 29, 2011) was an American composer, music theorist, mathematician, and teacher. He is particularly noted for his serial and electronic music. Biography Babbitt was born in Philadelphia to Albert E ...

. Fanfare for 4 horns, 4 trumpets, 3 trombones, and tuba (1987) *

. Serenade, Op. 102, for 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 4 horns, and 2 bassoons (1910) *

Gordon Jacob Gordon Percival Septimus Jacob CBE (5 July 18958 June 1984) was an English composer and teacher. He was a professor at the Royal College of Music in London from 1924 until his retirement in 1966, and published four books and many articles about ...

. ''Old Wine in New Bottles'' (1958), for double wind quintet with 2 trumpets *

Wilfred Josephs Wilfred Josephs (24 July 1927 – 17 November 1997) was an English composer. Life Born in Gosforth, Newcastle upon Tyne, the fourth and youngest son of Russian and South Shields Jewish parents, Wilfred Josephs had his first musical studies in Ne ...

. Concerto a dodici, opus 21 (1960). Concerto for twelve wind instruments, flute, piccolo, oboe, cor anglais, clarinet, bassoon, double bassoon, horn, trumpet, trombone and tuba * Karl Kohn. ''Concert Music'' for 12 wind instruments (1956) * Felix Mendelssohn. Nocturno lias ''Harmoniemusik'', alias Overture Op. 24, for flute, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 horns, 2 bassoons, trumpet, and (optional) "corno inglese di basso" *

. Serenade for 12 wind instruments (Add two additional horns to the double wind quintet) * David Van Vactor. Double sextette for 12 trombones (1971)

Mixed duodecets

. '' Composition for Twelve Instruments'', for flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, horn, trumpet, harp, celesta, violin, viola, cello, and double bass (1948, rev. 1954) * Niccolò Castiglioni. ''Masques: a Book of Dances, Chorales, Symphonies and Phantasies'', for flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, horn, trumpet, piano, harmonium, 2 violins, viola, and cello (1966/1967). *

George Enescu George Enescu (; – 4 May 1955), known in France as Georges Enesco, was a Romanian composer, violinist, conductor and teacher. Regarded as one of the greatest musicians in Romanian history, Enescu is featured on the Romanian five lei. Biogr ...

. Chamber Symphony in E major, Op. 33, for flute, oboe, English horn, clarinet, bassoon, horn, trumpet, violin, viola, cello, contrabass, and piano (1954) * Roman Haubenstock-Ramati. ''Musik für 12 Instrumente'' *

Hans Werner Henze Hans Werner Henze (1 July 1926 – 27 October 2012) was a German composer. His large oeuvre of works is extremely varied in style, having been influenced by serialism, atonality, Stravinsky, Italian music, Arabic music and jazz, as well as ...

. ''In memoriam: die Weisse Rose, Doppelfuge'', for flute, English horn, bass clarinet, bassoon, horn, trumpet, trombone, 2 violins, viola, cello, and double bass (1965) *

Paul Hindemith Paul Hindemith (; 16 November 189528 December 1963) was a German composer, music theorist, teacher, violist and conductor. He founded the Amar Quartet in 1921, touring extensively in Europe. As a composer, he became a major advocate of the '' ...

. ''Kammermusik'' No. 1 with ''Finale 1921'', Op. 24, No. 1, for flute (doubling piccolo), clarinet, bassoon, trumpet, percussionist, harmonium, piano, 2 violins, viola, cello, and double bass (1922) * Tom Johnson. ''Voicings'', for flute, oboe, clarinet, alto saxophone, bassoon, horn, trumpet, trombone, violin, viola, violoncello, and double bass (1984) * Walter Kaufmann. ''Eight Pieces for Twelve Instruments'', for piccolo, flute, oboe, clarinet, bass clarinet, bassoon, contrabassoon, harp, celesta, piano, percussion, and double bass (1966) *

Steve Reich Stephen Michael Reich ( ; born October 3, 1936) is an American composer known for his contribution to the development of minimal music in the mid to late 1960s. Reich's work is marked by its use of repetitive figures, slow harmonic rhythm, ...

. Double Sextet, for 2 flutes, 2 clarinets, 2 pianos, 2 vibraphones, 2 violins and 2 cellos; or flute, clarinet, piano, vibraphone, violin, cello and pre-recorded tape (2007) *

. ''Parthia ex D'', for 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 3 horns, and double bass *

Igor Stravinsky Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky (6 April 1971) was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor, later of French (from 1934) and American (from 1945) citizenship. He is widely considered one of the most important and influential composers of the ...

. Concertino, for flute, oboe, English horn, clarinet, 2 bassoons, 2 trumpets, tenor trombone, bass trombone, violin, and cello (1952; arr. of 1920 work for string quartet) *

Iannis Xenakis Giannis Klearchou Xenakis (also spelled for professional purposes as Yannis or Iannis Xenakis; el, Γιάννης "Ιωάννης" Κλέαρχου Ξενάκης, ; 29 May 1922 – 4 February 2001) was a Romanian-born Greek-French avant-garde ...

. ''Epicycle'', for solo cello, flute, oboe, clarinet, horn, trumpet, trombone, tuba, 2 violins, viola, and double bass (1989)

References

Sources * * *