nonet

American  

[noh-net] / noʊˈnɛt /

noun

Music.

1. a group of nine performers or instruments.

2. a composition for a nonet.

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nonet British  

/ nɒˈnɛt /

noun

1. a piece of music composed for a group of nine instruments

2. an instrumental group of nine players

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Etymology

Origin of nonet

1860–65; < Italian nonetto, derivative of nono ninth < Latin nōnus. See -et

Example Sentences

Before she became one of “The Nine,” Justice Bernstein was one of another famous nonet: the first group of women admitted to Harvard Law School in the 1950s.

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 6, 2023

Arcade Fire played as a nonet, with a battery of gear lining the border of the theater-in-the-round-style stage, which also employed a lazy Susan-like rotating platform at its center.

From Seattle Times • Oct. 16, 2017

When the nonet performs the suite live, Mr. Lovano said, the horn players take liberties, replacing long solo choruses with spur-of-the moment trading — “spontaneous, magical things happen that you can’t define.”

From New York Times • Jul. 30, 2011

Indeed, "Birth of the Cool" was created for a nonet that featured, of all things, French horn and tuba.

From Chicago Tribune • Mar. 7, 2011

Other works are: a string quartette, a trio, "Lilith," based on Rossetti's poem, "Eden Bower," a nonet, and a violin sonata.

From Contemporary American Composers Being a Study of the Music of This Country, Its Present Conditions and Its Future, with Critical Estimates and Biographies of the Principal Living Composers; and an Abundance of Portraits, Fac-simile Musical Autographs, and Compositions by Hughes, Rupert