Beautiful Classical Smaller Pieces, duo,trio,etc

Shostakovich string qt. #8--powerful stuff with some moments of beauty, albeit ominous

Well. IMO the daddy of them all from a modern composer, is String Qt. # 2, Intimate Letters" by the great Czech Leos Janacek .

Schubert,

Janacek #2 IS a terrific modern piece, and # 1 (Kreutzer) is worth mentioning too.

For modern American I would add Carter's Quartet #3 and Ives #2.

For another "modern" composer, but, composing more in a late romantic style, Schoenberg's "Verklarte Nacht" is a basic item.

I know this is intended to be a basic list, but, can we add mention of obscure or odd-ball items that are worth tracking down? In that context I would throw in Somei Sato's "Birds in Warped Time II."

I thought surely someone would of mentioned it by now, but as nobody has, I'll mention a work that belongs in all collections .

Carl Nielsen's Op. 43 Wind Quintet , up there in Mozart winds league with modernistic melody structure .

Vienna Quintet on Nimbus is good .

Borodin String Quartet No.2
Dvorak String Quartet No.12 "American"
Debussy String Quartet
Ravel String Quartet
Brahms Sextet No.2
Brahms Clarinet Quintet
Brahms Piano Quintet, op.34