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Frederick the Greatplaying aflute concertoinSanssouci,C. P. E. Bachat the piano,Johann Joachim Quantzis leaning on the wall to the right; byAdolph Menzel, 1852Aconcerto(from theItalian:concerto, pluralconcertior, often, theanglicisedformconcertos) is amusical compositionusually composed in three parts ormovements, in which (usually) onesoloinstrument (for instance, apiano,violin,celloorflute) isaccompaniedby anorchestraorconcert band.The etymology is uncertain, but the word seems to have originated from the conjunction of the two Latin wordsconserere(meaning to tie, to join, to weave) andcertamen(competition, fight): the idea is that the two parts in a concerto, the soloist and the orchestra or concert band, alternate episodes of opposition, cooperation, and independence in the creation of the music flow.The concerto, as understood in this modern way, arose in theBaroqueperiod side by side with theconcerto grosso, which contrasted a small group of instruments with the rest of the orchestra. The popularity of the concerto grosso form declined after the Baroque period, and the genre was not revived until the 20th century. The solo concerto, however, has remained a vital musical force from its inception to this day.Contents[hide] 1Early Baroque concerto 2Late Baroque concerto 3Classical concerto 3.1Violin concertos 3.2Cello concertos 3.3Keyboard concertos 3.4Concertos for other instruments 4Romantic concerto 4.1Violin concertos 4.2Cello concertos 4.3Piano concertos 4.4Small-scale works 520th century 5.1Violin concertos 5.2Cello concertos 5.3Piano concertos 5.4Concertos for other instruments 5.5Concertos for orchestra or concert band 6Concertos for two or more instruments 7See also 8References 9External linksEarly Baroque concerto[edit]The term "concerto" was initially used to denote works involving voices and instruments in which the instruments had independent partsas opposed to the Renaissance common practice in which the instruments that accompanied voices only doubled the voice parts.[1]Examples of this earlier form of concerto includeGiovanni Gabrieli's "In Ecclesiis" orHeinrich Schtz's "Saul, Saul, was verfolgst du mich."Late Baroque concerto[edit]See also:Ripieno concerto.The concerto began to take its modern shape in the lateBaroqueperiod. Starting from a form calledConcerto grossopopularized byArcangelo Corelli, it evolved into the form we understand today as performance of a soloist with/againstan orchestra.The main composers of concerti of the baroque wereTommaso Albinoni,Antonio Vivaldi,Georg Philipp Telemann,Johann Sebastian Bach,George Frideric Handel,Pietro Locatelli,Giuseppe Tartini,Francesco GeminianiandJohann Joachim Quantz. 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).The baroque concerto was mainly for a string instrument (violin,viola,cello, seldomviola d'amoreorharp) or a wind instrument (oboe,trumpet,flute, orhorn).During the baroque period, before the invention of the piano, keyboard concertos were comparatively rare, with the exception of theorganand someharpsichord concertosbyJohann Sebastian Bach. As the harpsichord evolved into thefortepiano, and in the end to the modernpiano, the increased volume and the richer sound of the new instrument allowed the keyboard instrument to better compete with a full orchestra.Cello concertos have been written since the Baroque era if not earlier. Among the works from that period, those byAntonio VivaldiandGiuseppe Tartiniare still part of the standardrepertoiretoday.Classical concerto[edit]

Sonata form in the Classical Concerto.[2]See:trill (music),cadenza, andcoda (music). Forexposition,developmentandrecapitulation, seesonata form.The concerti of the sons ofJohann Sebastian Bachare 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 concerti from the Classical period onwards follow the structure ofsonata form. Final movements are often inrondoform, as in J.S. Bach'sE Major Violin Concerto.[2]Violin concertos[edit]Mozartwrote five violin concertos, in quick succession. They show a number of influences, notably Italian andAustrian. Several passages have leanings towardsfolk music, as manifested in Austrianserenades.Haydnwrote four violin concerti.Beethovenwrote only one violin concerto.Cello concertos[edit]Haydn wrote at least two cello concertos which are the most important works in that genre of the classical era. However,C.P.E. Bachsthree cello concertos are also noteworthy.Keyboard concertos[edit]C.P.E. Bachs keyboard concertos contain some brilliant soloistic writing. Some of them have movements that run into one another without a break, and there are frequent cross-movement thematic references.Mozart, as a boy, made arrangements for harpsichord and orchestra of three sonata movements byJohann Christian Bach. By the time he was twenty, Mozart was able to write concerto ritornelli that gave the orchestra admirable opportunity for asserting its character in an exposition with some five or six sharply contrasted themes, before the soloist enters to elaborate on the material. Some of his twenty-seven piano are considered central in the instrument's repertoire.Haydn wrote a dozen keyboard concertos, although a couple of them are considered spurious.Concertos for other instruments[edit]C.P.E. Bach wrote four flute concertos and two oboe concertos.Mozart wrote one concerto each for flute,oboe(later rearranged for flute and known as Flute Concerto No. 2),clarinet, andbassoon, four forhorn, aConcerto for Flute, Harp, and Orchestra, aSinfonia Concertante for Violin, Viola and Orchestra, andExsultate, jubilate, ade factoconcerto for soprano voice. They all exploit and explore the characteristics of the solo instrument.Haydn wrote an importanttrumpet concertoand aSinfonia Concertantefor violin, cello, oboe and bassoonas well as two horn concertos.Romantic concerto[edit]Violin concertos[edit]Main article:Violin concertoIn the 19th century the concerto as a vehicle forvirtuosicdisplay flourished as never before. It was the age in which the artist was seen as hero, to be worshipped and adulated with rapture. Early Romantic traits can be found in the violin concertos ofViotti, but it isSpohrstwelve violin concertos, written between 1802 and 1827, that truly embrace the Romantic spirit with their melodic as well as their dramatic qualities.BeethovensViolin Concertois unique in its scale and melodic qualities.Recitativeelements are often incorporated, showing the influence of Italianoperaon purely instrumental forms.Mendelssohnopens his violin concerto (1844) with the singing qualities of the violin solo. Even later passage work is dramatic and recitative-like, rather than merely virtuosic. The wind instruments state the lyrical second subject over a low pedal G on the violin certainly[neutralityisdisputed]an innovation. The cadenza, placed at the end of the development and acting as a link to the recapitulation, is fully written out and integrated into the structure.The great violin virtuosoNiccol Paganiniwas a legendary figure who, as a composer, exploited the technical potential of his instrument to its very limits. Each one exploits rhapsodic ideas but is unique in its own form. TheBelgianviolinistHenri Vieuxtemps, himself a major virtuoso, contributed several works to this form.douard Lalo'sSymphonie Espagnole(1875) displays virtuoso writing with a Spanish flavor.Max Bruchwrote three violin concertos, but it is the first, in G minor, that has remained a firm favorite in the repertoire. The opening movement relates so closely to the two remaining movements that it functions like an operaticprelude.Tchaikovskysviolin concerto (1878) is a powerful work which succeeds in being lyrical as well as superbly[neutralityisdisputed]virtuosic.In the same yearBrahmswrote his violin concerto for the virtuosoJoseph Joachim. This work makes new demands on the player, so much so that when it was first written it was referred to as a "concerto against the violin". The first movement brings the concerto into the realm of symphonic development. The second movement is traditionally lyrical, and the finale is based on a livelyHungariantheme.Cello concertos[edit]Main article:Cello concertoSince the Romantic era, the cello has received as much attention as the piano and violin as a concerto instrument, and many great Romantic and even more 20th-century composers left examples.Antonn Dvoks cello concerto ranks among the supreme examples from the Romantic era whileRobert Schumann's focuses on the lyrical qualities of the instrument. The instrument was also popular with composers of the Franco-Belgian tradition:Saint-SansandVieuxtempswrote two cello concertos each andLaloandJongenone.Elgar's popular concerto, while written in the early 20th century, belongs to the late romantic period stylistically.Beethovencontributed to the repertoire with aTriple Concertofor piano, violin, cello and orchestra while later in the century,Brahmswrote aDouble Concertofor violin, cello and orchestra.Tchaikovskys contribution to the genre is a series ofVariations on a Rococo Theme. He also left very fragmentary sketches of a projected Cello Concerto. CellistYuriy Leonovichand Tchaikovsky researcherBrett Langstonpublishedtheir completionof the piece in 2006.Carl Reinecke,David PopperandJulius Klengelalso wrote cello concertos that were popular in their time and are still played occasionally nowadays.Today's 'core' repertoire which is performed the most of any cello concertos are byElgar,Dvok, Saint-Sans, Haydn,Shostakovichand Schumann, but there are many more concertos which are performed nearly as often (see below: cello concertos in the 20th century).Piano concertos[edit]Main article:Piano concertoBeethovens 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. HisPiano Concerto No. 4starts, against tradition, with a statement by the piano, after which the orchestra enters in a foreign key, to present what would normally have been the openingtutti. The work has an essentially lyrical character. The slow movement is a dramatic dialogue between the soloist and the orchestra. HisPiano Concerto No. 5has the basic rhythm of a Viennese militarymarch. There is no lyrical second subject, but in its place a continuous development of the opening material. He also wrote aTriple Concertofor piano, violin, cello, and orchestra.The piano concertos ofCramer,Field,Dssek,Woelfl, andHummelprovide a link from the Classical concerto to the Romantic concerto.Chopinwrote two piano concertos in which the orchestra is very much 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 pianos 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.Liszt's mastery of piano technique matched that ofPaganinifor the violin. His concertosNo. 1andNo. 2left a deep impression on the style of piano concerto writing, influencingRubinstein, and especiallyTchaikovsky, whose first piano concerto's rich chordal opening is justly famous.Griegsconcerto likewise begins in a striking manner after which it continues in a lyrical vein.Brahms'sFirst Piano Concertoin D minor (pub 1861) was the result of an immense amount of work on a mass of material originally intended for a symphony. HisSecond Piano Concertoin Bmajor (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. But Grieg-inspiredSergei Rachmaninoffwrote 4 piano concertos between 1891 and 1926. His2ndand3rd, being the most popular of the 4, went on to become among the most famous in piano repertoire.Other romantic piano concertos, likeKalkbrenner's,Henri Herz'sMoscheles' andThalberg's concertos were also very popular in the Romantic era, but not today.Small-scale works[edit]Besides the usual three-movement works with the title "concerto", many 19th-century composers wrote shorter pieces for solo instrument and orchestra, often bearing descriptive titles. From around 1800 such pieces were often calledKonzertstckorPhantasieby German composers.Liszt wrote theTotentanzfor piano and orchestra, a paraphrase of theDies Irae. Max Bruch wrote a popularScottish Fantasyfor violin and orchestra,Csar FranckwroteLes DjinnsandVariations symphoniques, andGabriel Faurwrote aBalladefor piano and orchestra. Rachmaninoff'sRhapsody on a Theme of Paganiniis widely considered to be structured similarly to a piano concerto.Tchaikovsky'sVariations on a Rococo Themefor cello and orchestra have an important place in the instrument's repertoire.20th century[edit]Many of the concertos written in the early 20th century belong more to the late Romantic school than to any modernistic movement. Masterpieces were written byEdward Elgar(a violin concerto and a cello concerto),Sergei RachmaninoffandNikolai Medtner(four and three piano concertos, respectively),Jean Sibelius(a violin concerto),Frederick Delius(a violin concerto, a cello concerto, a piano concerto and adouble concerto for violin and cello),Karol Szymanowski(two violin concertos and a "Symphonie Concertante" for piano), andRichard Strauss(two horn concertos, a violin concerto,Don Quixotea tone poem which features the cello as a soloist and among later works, anoboe concerto).However, in the first decades of the 20th century, several composers such asDebussy,Schoenberg,Berg,Hindemith,Stravinsky,ProkofievandBartkstarted experimenting with ideas that were to have far-reaching consequences for the way music is written and, in some cases, performed. Some of these innovations include a more frequent use ofmodality, the exploration of non-westernscales, the development ofatonality, the wider acceptance ofdissonances, the invention of thetwelve-tone techniqueof composition and the use ofpolyrhythmsand complextime 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 in order to include new and extended instrumental techniques as well as a focus on aspects of sound that had been neglected or even ignored before such aspitch,timbreanddynamics. In some cases, they also brought about a new approach to the role of the soloist and its relation to the orchestra.Violin concertos[edit]Two great innovators of early 20th-century music,SchoenbergandStravinsky, both wrote violin concertos. The material in Schoenbergs concerto, like that inBergs, is linked by thetwelve-tone serialmethod.Bartk, another major 20th-century composer, wrote two important concertos for violin. Russian composersProkofievandShostakovichboth wrote two concertos whileKhachaturianwrote a concerto and a Concerto-Rhapsody for the instrument.Hindemiths concertos hark back to the forms of the 19th century, even if the harmonic language which he used was different.Three violin concertos fromDavid Diamondshow the form in neoclassical style.More recently,Dutilleux'sL'Arbre des Songeshas proved an important addition to the repertoire and a fine example of the composer's atonal yet melodic style.Other composers of major violin concertos includeJean Sibelius,Ralph Vaughan Williams,Samuel Barber,Walton,Benjamin Britten,Frank Martin,Carl Nielsen,Paul Hindemith,Alfred Schnittke,Gyrgy Ligeti,Philip Glass,Dmitri Shostakovich,Sergei Prokofiev,Aram Khachaturian,Bela BartokandJohn Adams.Cello concertos[edit]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.An important factor in this phenomenon was the rise of virtuoso cellistMstislav Rostropovich. His outstanding technique and passionate playing prompted dozens of composers to write pieces for him, first in his native Soviet Union and then abroad. His creations include such masterpieces asSergei Prokofiev'sSymphony-Concerto,Dmitri Shostakovich's two cello concertos,Benjamin Britten'sCello-Symphony(which emphasizes, as its title suggests, the equal importance of soloist and orchestra),Henri Dutilleux'Tout un monde lointain...,Witold Lutosawski's cello concerto,Dmitri Kabalevsky's two cello concertos,Aram Khachaturian'sConcerto-Rhapsody,Arvo Prt'sPro et Contra,Alfred Schnittke,Andr JolivetandKrzysztof Pendereckisecond cello concertos,Sofia Gubaidulina'sCanticles of the Sun,Luciano Berio'sRitorno degli Snovidenia,Leonard Bernstein'sThree Meditations,James MacMillan's cello concerto andOlivier Messiaen'sConcert quatre(a quadruple concerto for cello, piano, oboe, flute and orchestra).In addition, several important composers who were not directly influenced by Rostropovich wrote cello concertos:Gyrgy Ligeti,Alexander Glazunov,Paul Hindemith,Toru Takemitsu,Darius Milhaud,Arthur Honegger,Nikolai Myaskovsky,Samuel Barber,Joaqun Rodrigo,Elliot Carter,Erich Wolfgang Korngold,William Walton,Heitor Villa-Lobos,Hans Werner Henze,Bernd Alois ZimmermannandEinojuhani Rautavaarafor instance.Piano concertos[edit]Igor Stravinskywrote three works for solo piano and orchestra:Concerto for Piano and Wind Instruments,Capriccio for Piano and Orchestra, and Movements for Piano and Orchestra.Sergei Prokofiev, another Russian composer, wrote no less than five piano concertos which he himself performed.Dmitri Shostakovichcomposed two. Fellow soviet composerAram Khachaturiancontributed to the repertoire with apiano concertoand a Concerto-Rhapsody.Arnold SchoenbergsPiano Concertois a well-known example of adodecaphonicpiano concerto.Bla Bartkalso wrote three piano concertos. Like their violin counterparts, they show the various stages in his musical development. Bartok's also rearranged his chamber piece,Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion, into aConcerto for Two Pianos and Percussion, adding orchestral accompaniment.Ralph Vaughan Williamswrote a concerto for piano (in fact a reworking of a concerto for two pianos - both versions have been recorded) whileBenjamin Britten's concerto for piano (1938) is a prominent work from his early period.Gyrgy Ligeti's concerto (1988) has a synthetic quality: it mixes complex rhythms, the composer's Hungarian roots and his experiments with micropolyphony from the 1960s and 70's.[3]Witold Lutoslawski's piano concerto, completed in the same year, alternates between playfulness and mystery. It also displays a partial return to melody after the composer's aleatoric period.[4]Russian composerRodion Shchedrinhas written six piano concertos. Finnish composerEinojuhani Rautavaarawrote three piano concertos, the third one dedicated toVladimir Ashkenazy, who played and conducted the world premire.Concertos for other instruments[edit]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. As a result, almost all classical instruments now have a concertante repertoire. Examples include: Alto saxophoneConcerto:Adams,Creston,Dahl,Denisov,Dubois,Glazunov,Husa,Ibert,Koch,Larsson,Maslanka,Muczynski,Salonen,Tomasi,Worley,Yoshimatsu BandonenConcerto:Piazzolla Baritone saxophoneConcerto:Gaines,Glaser,Haas,van Beurden Bass clarinetConcerto:Bouliane Bass oboe concerto:Bryars Bassoon concerto:Aho,Butterworth,Davies,Donatoni,Eckhardt-Gramatt,Fujikura,Gubaidulina,Htu,Jolivet,Kaipainen,Knipper,Landowski,Panufnik,Rihm,Rota,Sverud,J. Williams Clarinet concerto:Aho,Arnold,Copland,Davies,Denisov,Dusapin,Fairouz,Finzi,Franaix,Htu,Hindemith,Kan-no,Nielsen,Penderecki,Rautavaara,Stravinsky,Takemitsu,Tomasi,J. Williams Clavinetconcerto:Woolf ContrabassoonConcerto:Aho,Erb Contrabass fluteConcerto:McGowan CornetConcerto:Wright Double bass concerto:Aho,Gagneux,Henze,Koussevitsky,Davies,Ohzawa,Rautavaara,Tubin EuphoniumConcerto:Clarke,Cosma,Ewazen,Gillingham,Golland,Graham,Horovitz,Lindberg,Linkola,Sparke,Wilby. FluteConcerto:Aho,Arnold,Davies,Denisov,Dusapin,Harman,Htu,Ibert,Jolivet,Landowski,Nielsen,Penderecki,Rautavaara,Rodrigo,Takemitsu,J. Williams Free bass accordionConcerto:Serry, Sr. GuitarConcerto:Arnold,Brouwer,Castelnuovo-Tedesco,Hovhaness,Ohana,Ponce,Rodrigo,Villa-Lobos Harmonica concerto:Arnold,Vaughan Williams,Villa-Lobos HarpConcerto:Ginastera,Glire,Jongen,Milhaud,Jolivet,Rautavaara,Rodrigo,Villa-Lobos HarpsichordConcerto:de Falla,Glass,Grecki,Martin,Poulenc HornConcerto:Aho,Arnold,Arutiunian,Atterberg,Bowen,Carter,Davies,Glire,Gipps,Hindemith,Hovhaness,Jacob,Knussen,Ligeti,Murail,Penderecki,Strauss,Tomasi,J. Williams KanunConcerto:Alnar MandolinConcerto:Thile MarimbaConcerto:Creston,Larsen,Milhaud,Rosauro,Svoboda,Viao Oboe concerto:Aho,Arnold,Bouliane,Davies,Denisov,Harman,MacMillan,Maderna,Martin,Penderecki,Shchedrin,Strauss,Vaughan Williams,Zimmermann Organ concerto:Arnold,Hanson,Harrison,Htu,Hindemith,Jongen,Kan-no,MacMillan,Peeters,Poulenc,Rorem,Sowerby PercussionConcerto:Aho,Dorman,Glass,Jolivet,MacMillan,Milhaud,Rautavaara,Susman PiccoloConcerto:Davies,Liebermann ShakuhachiConcerto:Takemitsu ShengConcerto:Kan-no,Unsuk Chin. Soprano saxophoneConcerto:Higdon,Hovhaness,Mackey,Torke,Yoshimatsu. Tenor saxophoneConcerto:Bennett,Ewazen,Gould,Nicolau,Ward,Wilder. Timpani concerto:Druschetzky,Glass,Kraft,Rosauro TromboneConcerto:Aho,Bourgeois,Dusapin,Gagneux,Grndahl,Holmboe,Larsson,Milhaud,Olsen,Rota,Rouse,Sandstrm,Tomasi TrumpetConcerto:Aho,Arnold,Arutiunian,Bhme,Jolivet,Perry,Sandstrm,Williams,Zimmermann TubaConcerto:Aho,Arutiunian,Gagneux,Holmboe,Vaughan Williams,J. Williams Viola concerto:Aho,Arnold,Bartk,Denisov,Gagneux,Gubaidulina,Hindemith,Kan-no,Kancheli,Martin,Milhaud,Murail,Penderecki,Schnittke,Takemitsu,WaltonAmong the works of the prolific composerAlan Hovhanessmay be noted