Concerto

The term concerto has been applied to music works since the early 16th century, first appearing in treatises almost a century later. Reflecting the sense of two or more forces either contending with or working together with someone (both Latin), or “arrange, agree, get together” (Italian), early concertos combined voices and instruments with no other formal consequences. These characteristics remain with the genre throughout its history. Only with the emergence of the instrumental, non-texted concerto in the late 17th century did structure begin to become an issue. Two important formal trends regarding the concerto dominate the 18th century. The most pervasive overall form is that of three movements, fast-slow-fast. The form of the first movement has attracted the most attention in the literature. Concertos in the first half of the 18th century, emanating from Italy and spreading northward, start with some version of ritornello form, which is also used in arias. In the latter part of the century, first movements increasingly take on the characteristics of sonata form, found in symphonies and sonatas, resulting in first movement concerto form or concerto-sonata form. The actual nature of the merging of the two ideas in any given work remains a vibrant topic. In one sense, the influence of the two forms, ritornello and sonata, has declined since Beethoven, giving way to other compositional concerns, yet the forms can often lurk in the background of the genre. The breadth of works that fall under the descriptive term concerto can be exasperating. Concerto also embraces a number of subgenres. The earliest works are known as vocal concertos or sacred concertos (many of them were sacred pieces), but do not always bear the designation. They are performed in stile concertato, using diverse musical forces. The term remains applicable to certain textures. The concerto grosso, connected with the Baroque, is another subgenre. Yet another subgenre is the symphonie concertante, which emerged in 18th-century France. This subgenre passed in popularity, but the term concertante continues to be applied to the texture. Later developments made use of other textures, though the symphonic concerto, originating in the 19th century, might be seen as derivative of earlier approaches. These styles and textures are major factors in many other works not called concertos, such as variation sets, fantasies, and even symphonies, to name a few.

Analisis Teknik Permainan Biola Pada Concerto In A Minor 3RD Movement Rv 356 Op. 3 No. 6 Karya Antonio Vivaldi

Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mendeskripsikan bentuk musik dan teknik permainan biola pada Concerto in A Minor 3rd Movement RV 356 Op. 3 No. 6 karya Antonio Vivaldi. Penelitian ini menggunakan metode penelitian kualitatif. Data yang diperoleh dalam penelitian melalui observasi, wawancara, dan dokumentasi. Teknik analisis data yang digunakan adalah reduksi data, penyajian data, dan kesimpulan data. Serta terdapat uji keabsahan data dengan teknik triangulasi. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa pada Concerto in A Minor 3rd Movement RV 356 Op. 3 No. 6 karya Antonio Vivaldi memiliki bentuk musik Concerto Form, dengan teknik Ritornello Form. Adapun teknik permainan biola yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah teknik legato, detache, staccato, quavers dan semiquavers, trill, dan accent.Kata Kunci : Teknik, Bentuk, Concerto in A Minor 3rd Movement RV 356 Op. 3 No. 6, Antonio Vivaldi

Beyond Mere Novelty: Timbre as Primary Structural Marker in Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G Major

Ravel’s Concerto in G Major reveals a new priority for timbre, long an integral part of his compositional toolkit, in which timbre functions as a form-bearing accent that marks and transforms themes. Through his unconventional treatment of symphonic instruments and the piano within reinvented concepts of theme, key, and form, I argue that these “novel” sonorities are not just there for surface reasons, but rather there to serve an integral role within the narrative of the concerto form. In the timbrally marked Concerto in G Major, the concerto medium is turned on its side as we attempt to understand the members of the orchestra as ensemble and co-soloists within changing auditory scenes. With the prominent place given to piccolo and harp—and, more profoundly, the “mistuned,” unusual timbres often issuing from the piano—we wonder: Who is the soloist Ravel is highlighting in this concerto?

James MacMillan premieres in Edinburgh, Glasgow and London

The concerto form is well represented in James MacMillan's output. So far, he has written three for piano, two for percussion and one each for violin, viola, cello, trumpet, oboe and clarinet. There is also threaded through his output a series of concertante works, such as A Deep but Dazzling Darkness, for violin, ensemble and tape (2003), A Scotch Bestiary, for organ and orchestra (2004) and the concertino Seraph, for trumpet and strings (2010). All share a common concern to realise fully the soloist's expressive potential.

Carl Nielsen's Flute Concerto. Form and Revision of the Ending

For the first performance in Copenhagen of the flute concerto Carl Nielsen composed a new ending. In connection with the premiere of the concerto in Paris three months earlier Nielsen had worked under a heavy time pressure, and apparently the composer was not fully satisfied with the result. Both endings are held in the archives today and are available for comparative analysis. Not only is the new ending 72 bars longer than the original, but it also develops ideas from the original ending and changes the structure of the concerto by introducing material from the first movement. With the new ending, the concerto articulates a musical form in which the final chord is no longer the ultimate goal of the whole work to the same degree as was the case with the original ending.

Analytic and Aesthetic Issues in Carl Nielsen’s Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra

Nielsen’s Clarinet Concerto is his last large-scale orchestral work, yet it has received considerably less analytical attention than his symphonies. This is partly because of the problematic generic status of the twentieth-century concerto, but also because of the work’s unusually complex musical language. In this paper, I outline an analytical technology for the work that builds on the notion of dialogue inherent within the concerto form. Nielsen’s concerto raises dialogue to the highest level of structure, and offers one of his most compelling and original musical narratives.

Two Contemporary Viola Concerti: a Comparative Study

During the last half decade two composers—Jonathan Lloyd and Jacob Druckman—were commissioned by major ensembles to write concertos for viola and orchestra. Each composer has interpreted the concerto form in his own way, but both have departed somewhat from the traditional concept of the concerto. (According to the Harvard Dictionary definition, the solo part of a concerto is written in a ‘highly virtuosic style’. Grove's Dictionary adds: ‘the name concerto [is] generally given to an instrumental composition designed to show the skill of an executant’.)