Concerto

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

A concerto (

allegro
), became a standard from the early 18th century.

The concerto originated as a genre of

concerti grossi for a group of soloists. The first keyboard concertos, such as George Frideric Handel's organ concertos and Johann Sebastian Bach's harpsichord concertos
, were written around the same time.

In the second half of the 18th century, the

concerto for orchestra, that is without soloist. During the 20th century concertos appeared by major composers for orchestral instruments which had been neglected in the 19th century such as the clarinet, viola and French horn
.

In the second half of the 20th century and onwards into the 21st a great many composers have continued to write concertos, including

rock band
.

Concertos from previous ages have remained a conspicuous part of the repertoire for concert performances and recordings. Less common has been the previously common practice of the composition of concertos by a performer to be performed personally, though the practice has continued via certain composer-performers such as Daniil Trifonov.

Genre

The Italian word concerto, meaning accord or gathering, derives from the Latin verb concertare, which indicates a competition or battle.[3]

Baroque Era

Compositions were for the first time indicated as concertos in the title of a music print when the Concerti by Andrea and Giovanni Gabrieli [scores] were published in 1587.[3]

Concerto as a genre of vocal music

In the 17th century, sacred works for voices and orchestra were typically called concertos, as reflected by

J. S. Bach's usage of the title "concerto" for many of the works that we know as cantatas.[4][5] The term "concerto" was initially used to denote works that involved voices and instruments in which the instruments had independent parts—as opposed to the Renaissance common practice in which instruments that accompanied voices only doubled the voice parts.[6] Examples of this earlier form of concerto include Giovanni Gabrieli's "In Ecclesiis" or Heinrich Schütz's "Saul, Saul, was verfolgst du mich".[7]

Instrumental concerto

The concerto began to take its modern shape in the late-Baroque period, beginning with the concerto grosso form developed by Arcangelo Corelli. Corelli's concertino group was two violins, a cello and basso continuo.[8] In J. S. Bach's Fifth Brandenburg Concerto, for example, the concertino is a flute, a violin, and a harpsichord; although the harpsichord is a featured solo instrument, it also sometimes plays with the ripieno, functioning as a continuo keyboard accompaniment.[9]

Later, the concerto approached its modern form, in which the concertino usually reduces to a single solo instrument playing with (or against) an orchestra. The main composers of concertos of the baroque were

. The concerto was intended as a composition typical of the Italian style of the time, and all the composers were studying how to compose in the Italian fashion (all'Italiana).[citation needed]

The Baroque concerto was mainly for a string instrument (violin, viola, cello, seldom viola d'amore or harp) or a wind instrument (flute, recorder, oboe, bassoon, horn, or trumpet,). Bach also wrote a concerto for two violins and orchestra.[11] During the Baroque period, before the invention of the piano, keyboard concertos were comparatively rare, with the exception of the organ and some harpsichord concertos by Johann Sebastian Bach.[12]

Classical era

development and recapitulation, see sonata form
.

The concertos of the sons of

C. P. E. Bach, are perhaps the best links between those of the Baroque period and those of the Classical era. It is conventional to state that the first movements of concertos from the Classical period onwards follow the structure of sonata form. Final movements are often in rondo form, as in J.S. Bach's E Major Violin Concerto.[13]

Beethoven wrote only one violin concerto that remained obscure until revealed as a masterpiece in a performance by violin virtuoso Joseph Joachim on 27 May 1844.[15]

C.P.E. Bach's keyboard concertos contain some virtuosic solo writing. Some of them have movements that run into one another without a break, and there are frequent cross-movement thematic references.

his 27 piano concertos, the last 22 are highly appreciated.[17] A dozen cataloged keyboard concertos are attributed to Haydn, of which only three or four are considered genuine.[18]

C. P. E. Bach wrote five flute concertos and two oboe concertos. Mozart wrote five horn concertos, with two for flute,

as well as two horn concertos.

Romantic era

In the 19th century, the concerto as a vehicle for virtuosic display flourished, and concertos became increasingly complex and ambitious works. Whilst performances of typical concertos in the baroque era lasted about ten minutes, those by Beethoven could last half an hour or longer. The term concertino (composition), or the German Konzertstuck ("Concert Piece") began to be used to designate smaller pieces not considered large enough to be considered a full concerto, though the distinction has never been formalised and many Concertinos are still longer than the original Baroque concertos.

During the Romantic era the cello became increasingly used as a concerto instrument; though the violin and piano remained the most frequently used.

Brahms wrote a Double Concerto
for violin, cello and orchestra.

A performance of a piano concerto

20th and 21st century

Many of the concertos written in the early 20th century belong more to the late Romantic school, hence modernistic movement. Masterpieces were written by

double concerto for violin and cello), Karol Szymanowski (two violin concertos and a "Symphonie Concertante" for piano), and Richard Strauss (two horn concertos, a violin concerto, Don Quixote—a tone poem that features the cello as a soloist—and among later works, an oboe concerto
).

However, in the first decades of the 20th century, several composers such as

scales, the development of atonality and neotonality, the wider acceptance of dissonances, the invention of the twelve-tone technique of composition and the use of polyrhythms and complex time signatures
.

These changes also affected the concerto as a musical form. Beside more or less radical effects on musical language, they led to a redefinition of the concept of virtuosity that included new and extended instrumental techniques and a focus on previously neglected aspects of sound such as pitch, timbre and dynamics. In some cases, they also brought about a new approach to the role of soloists and their relation to the orchestra.

Two great innovators of early 20th-century music, Schoenberg and Stravinsky, both wrote violin concertos. The material in Schoenberg's concerto, like that in Berg's, is linked by the twelve-tone serial method. In the 20th century, particularly after the Second World War, the cello enjoyed an unprecedented popularity. As a result, its concertante repertoire caught up with those of the piano and the violin both in terms of quantity and quality.

The 20th century also witnessed a growth of the concertante repertoire of instruments, some of which had seldom or never been used in this capacity, and even a concerto for wordless coloratura soprano by Reinhold Glière.[20] As a result, almost all classical instruments now have a concertante repertoire. Among the works of the prolific composer Alan Hovhaness may be noted Prayer of St. Gregory for trumpet and strings, though it is not a concerto in the usual sense of the term. In the later 20th century the concerto tradition was continued by composers such as Maxwell Davies, whose series of Strathclyde Concertos exploit some of the instruments less familiar as soloists.

In addition, the 20th century gave rise to several composers who experimented further by showcasing a variety of nontraditional orchestral instruments within the center of the orthodox concerto form. Included within this group are:

Andre Jolivet (Concerto of Ondes Martenot in 1947),[22] Heitor Villa-Lobos (Concerto for Harmonica in 1956),[23][24] John Serry Sr. (Concerto in C Major for Bassetti Accordion in 1966),[25][26] Astor Piazzolla (Concerto for Bandoneon, String Orchestra and Percussion, "Aconcagua" in 1979),[27] Peter Maxwell Davies (Concerto for Piccolo and Orchestra, Op. 182 in 1996),[28][29] and Tan Dun (Concerto for Water Percussion and Orchestra in 1998)[30][31]

Other composers of this era adopted a neoclassical rejection of specific features which typically characterized the concerto form during the Baroque or Romantic periods. Several of them achieved this objective by incorporating various musical elements from the realm of

Concertos with concert band include:

By type

Vocal concerto

20th century:

Without orchestra

Single solo instrument

Baroque era:

20th century:

  • Serry's Concerto In C Major For Free Bass Accordion [35][36]

Multiple instruments

Baroque era:

20th century:

For one instrumental soloist and orchestra

For bowed string instrument and orchestra

Violin concerto

Baroque era:

Classical era:

Early Romantic traits can be found in the violin concertos of

Spohr's twelve violin concertos, written between 1802 and 1827, that truly embrace the Romantic spirit with their melodic as well as their dramatic qualities.[37]

20th century:

21st century:

Viola concerto

Baroque era:

Classical era:

20th century:

Cello concerto

The 'core' repertoire—performed the most of any cello concertos—are by Elgar, Dvořák, Saint-Saëns, Haydn, Shostakovich and Schumann, but many more concertos are performed nearly as often.

Baroque era:

  • Vivaldi's cello concertos RV 398–403, 405–414 and 416–424

Classical era:

  • Haydn wrote two cello concertos (for cello, oboes, horns, and strings), which are the most important works in that genre of the classical era.[42]
  • Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach wrote three cello concertos and Luigi Boccherini wrote twelve cello concertos.[43]

Romantic era:

20th century:

Double bass concerto

20th century:

Other bowed string instruments

20th century:

For plucked string instrument and orchestra

Harp concerto

Baroque era:

Classical era:

Romantic era:

20th century:

Mandolin concerto

Baroque era:

20th century:

Guitar concerto

20th century:

Other plucked string instruments

Baroque era:

20th century:

For woodwind instrument and orchestra

Flute concerto

Baroque era:

Classical era:

20th century:

Oboe concerto

Baroque era:

Classical era:

Romantic era:

20th century:

English horn

20th century:

Bassoon concerto

20th century:

Clarinet concerto

20th century:

21st century:

Saxophone concerto

20th century:

Other woodwind instruments

20th century:

For brass instrument and orchestra

Trumpet concerto

20th century:

  • Trumpet Concerto:
Horn concerto

Classical era:

  • Bohemian composer Francesco Antonio Rosetti composed several solo and double horn concertos. He was a significant contributor to the genre of horn concertos in the 18th century. Most of his outstanding horn concertos were composed between 1782 and 1789 for the Bohemian duo Franz Zwierzina and Joseph Nage while at the Bavarian court of Oettingen-Wallerstein. One of his best-known works in this genre is his Horn Concerto in E flat major C49/K III:36. It consists of three movements: 1. Allegro moderato 2. Romance 3. Rondo. Many common features of the galant style are present in Rosetti's music and composing style. In his E-flat horn concerto, we hear periodic and short phrases, galant harmonic rhythm and melodic line reduction.[65] Rosetti's influence on the 18th century composers, musicians and music was considerable. At the Bavarian court of Oettingen-Wallerstein, his music was often performed by the Wallerstein ensembles. In Paris, his compositions were performed by the best ensembles of the city, including the orchestra of the Concert Spirituel. His publishers were Le Menu et Boyer and Sieber. According to H. C. Robbins Landon (Mozart scholar),[66] Rosetti's horn concertos might have been a model for Mozart's horn concertos.[67][relevant?]

20th century:

Trombone concerto

20th century:

Other brass instruments

20th century:

Keyboard concerto

Harpsichord concerto

Baroque era:

  • Harpsichord concertos, BWV 1052–1059
    (Bach)

20th century:

Organ concerto

Baroque era:

  • Handel:
    • Organ concertos, Op.4
    • Organ concertos, Op.7

20th century:

Piano concerto

Classical era:

Romantic era:

  • Beethoven's five piano concertos increase the technical demands made on the soloist. The last two are particularly remarkable, integrating the concerto into a large symphonic structure with movements that frequently run into one another. His Piano Concerto No. 4 starts with a statement by the piano, after which the orchestra enters in a foreign key, to present what would normally be the opening tutti. The work has a lyrical character. The slow movement is a dramatic dialogue between the soloist and the orchestra. His Piano Concerto No. 5 has the basic rhythm of a Viennese military march. There is no lyrical second subject, but in its place a continuous development of the opening material.[69]
  • The piano concertos of
    Woelfl, Ries, and Hummel
    provide a link from the Classical concerto to the Romantic concerto.
  • Chopin wrote two piano concertos in which the orchestra is relegated to an accompanying role. Schumann, despite being a pianist-composer, wrote a piano concerto in which virtuosity is never allowed to eclipse the essential lyrical quality of the work. The gentle, expressive melody heard at the beginning on woodwind and horns (after the piano's heralding introductory chords) bears the material for most of the argument in the first movement. In fact, argument in the traditional developmental sense is replaced by a kind of variation technique in which soloist and orchestra interweave their ideas.[70]
  • Paganini for the violin. His concertos No. 1 and No. 2 left a deep impression on the style of piano concerto writing, influencing Rubinstein, and especially Tchaikovsky, whose First Piano Concerto's rich chordal opening is justly famous.[71][unreliable source?
    ]
  • Grieg's concerto likewise begins in a striking manner after which it continues in a lyrical vein.[72]
  • Saint-Saëns wrote five piano concertos and orchestra between 1858 and 1896, in a classical vein.
  • Brahms's First Piano Concerto in D minor (pub 1861) was the result of an immense amount of work on a mass of material originally intended for a symphony. His Second Piano Concerto in B major (1881) has four movements and is written on a larger scale than any earlier concerto. Like his violin concerto, it is symphonic in proportions.
  • Fewer piano concertos were written in the late Romantic Period.[73] But Sergei Rachmaninoff wrote four piano concertos between 1891 and 1926. His Second and Third, being the most popular of the four, went on to become among the most famous in the piano repertoire.[74]
  • Other romantic piano concertos, like those by Kalkbrenner, Henri Herz, Moscheles and Thalberg were also very popular in the Romantic era, but not today.[73]

20th century:

Accordion concerto

20th century:

Other keyboard instruments

20th century:

Other instrumental soloist

Percussion instrument

20th century:

Free reed aerophone

20th century:

Electronic musical instrument

20th century:

For multiple instruments and orchestra

In the Baroque era, two violins and one cello formed the standard

concertino of a concerto grosso. In the classical era, the sinfonia concertante
replaced the concerto grosso genre, although concertos for two or three soloists were still composed too. From the Romantic era works for multiple instrumental soloists and orchestra were again commonly called concerto.

Two soloists

Baroque era:

Classical era:

Romantic era:

20th century:

Three soloists

Baroque era:

Classical era:

Romantic era:

21st century:

Four or more soloists

Baroque era:

20th century:

Concerto for orchestra

Symphonic orchestra

In the 20th and 21st centuries, several composers wrote concertos for orchestra. In these works, different sections and/or instruments of the orchestra or concert band are treated at one point or another as soloists with emphasis on solo sections and/or instruments changing during the piece. Some examples include those written by:

Dutilleux has also described his Métaboles as a concerto for orchestra.[relevant?]

Chamber orchestra or string orchestra

Baroque era:

20th century:

More than one orchestra

Baroque era:

20th century:

References

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Sources

Further reading

External links