The Concerto
A concerto is a large-scale composition for an orchestra plus a soloist or a group of soloists. The soloist(s) alternate playing with or alongside the larger ensemble to provide opposition and contrast.
Concertos have three movements – fast, slow, fast.
The concerto in the Baroque period (roughly 1600-1750) Baroque composers who wrote concertos include Vivaldi (who wrote over 500, around half of them for violin), Bach and Handel.
There were two types of Baroque concerto - the concerto grosso and the solo concerto.
The concerto grosso:
Concertos have three movements – fast, slow, fast.
The concerto in the Baroque period (roughly 1600-1750) Baroque composers who wrote concertos include Vivaldi (who wrote over 500, around half of them for violin), Bach and Handel.
There were two types of Baroque concerto - the concerto grosso and the solo concerto.
The concerto grosso:
- is written for a group of solo instruments (the concertino) plus a larger ensemble (the ripieno)
- Bach’s six Brandenburg Concertos are well-known examples of the Baroque concerto grosso.
Listen to the opening of Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 4. The solo group of violin and two flutes are prominent at the beginning and are then joined by the ripieno strings. Listen for the harpsichord playing the continuo. |
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The Baroque solo concerto::
- is written for one solo instrument plus orchestra
- often has brilliant and technically demanding passages for the soloist to play
- Vivaldi’s Four Seasons is a well-known example of the Baroque solo violin concerto
The Concerto in the Classical period (roughly 1750-1800)
The concerto was a popular form during the Classical period (roughly 1770-1800). It had three movements – two fast outer movements and a slow lyrical middle movement.
The Classical concerto introduced the cadenza, a brilliant dramatic solo passage where the soloist plays and the orchestra pauses and remains silent.
A cadenza:
The Classical concerto introduced the cadenza, a brilliant dramatic solo passage where the soloist plays and the orchestra pauses and remains silent.
A cadenza:
- is usually played towards the end of the first movement
- is improvised and based on one or more themes from the first movement
- shows off the skills of the soloist
- often ends on a trill
Mozart wrote 21 concertos for piano as well as concertos for violin, French horn, clarinet, and flute. Another famous Classical concerto is Haydn’s Trumpet Concerto in E flat.
Listen to this cadenza passage taken from the first movement of Mozart’s Piano Concerto No.20 in D minor. |
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The Concerto in the Romantic Period (roughly the 19th century)
Concertos remained popular during the Romantic period. There were many written for piano and violin. The Romantic concerto:
- uses a large orchestra
- exploits the dramatic conflict between soloist and orchestra
- often has the emphasis on virtuosic display
- often has very difficult solo parts
- has cadenzas written by the composer rather than improvised
The Concerto in the 20th Century
The concerto has continued to flourish in the 20th and 21st centuries. Concertos continue to be written for piano (eg Shostakovitch and Ravel) and violin (eg Berg and Philip Glass).
Since the 20th century, concertos have been written for a wide variety of instruments.
Composers have experimented with the concerto form and with new sounds. The Swedish composer Jan Sandström wrote Motorbike Odyssey - a concerto for solo trombone where the soloist arrives on stage on a motorbike and imitates the sound of the machine.
Listen to opening of Veni, Veni Emmanuel a one-movement percussion concerto written by James MacMillan.
Since the 20th century, concertos have been written for a wide variety of instruments.
Composers have experimented with the concerto form and with new sounds. The Swedish composer Jan Sandström wrote Motorbike Odyssey - a concerto for solo trombone where the soloist arrives on stage on a motorbike and imitates the sound of the machine.
Listen to opening of Veni, Veni Emmanuel a one-movement percussion concerto written by James MacMillan.
Listening...
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