Master teacher and violinist Aimée Kreston has invited me again to bring a little music history to her marvelous “Chamber Music Intensive” at the Pasadena Conservatory of Music. Her students—primarily middle-school and high-school string players—always bring an incredible amount of curiosity and energy to my lecture. It’s an amazing program, and I look forward to speaking about foundational works, including Brahms’s Sextet and Haydn’s String Quartet Op. 77, No. 1. We will also investigate what we mean by the “Classical” period and how sonata form works.