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Concerto Grosso – (plurel: is concerti grossi)
The concerto grosso is a form in which the musical material is passed between a small group of soloists (the concertino) and full orchestra (the ripieno or concerto grosso).
Concerto grosso vs solo concerto
Two kinds of concertos composed in the Baroque period are concerto grosso and solo concerto. Today the term concerto usually refers to a musical work in which one solo instrument is accompanied by an orchestra. The concerto arose in the baroque from the concerto grosso (Italian for big concert(o)), While the concerto grosso (a small group of instruments contrasted with the rest of the orchestra.) is confined to the baroque period, the solo concerto continued as a vital musical force to this day.
Concerto Grossoi defined
Prior to 1675.there had been no clear distinction made between concerto. forms and a sinfonia After this time composers started to write works for divided orchestra naming them concerto grosso. Of the two groups the smaller group was the solo group referred to as the concertino. The larger group – accompanying instruments -term applied is ripieno or concerto grosso. , The musical material is passed between the concertino and full orchestra (ripieno or concerto grosso).
The first major composer to use the term concerto grosso was Arcangelo Corelli. After Corelli’s death, a collection of twelve of his concertos grossi was published. Other composers wrote concertos in the style of Corelli – namely Antonio Vivaldi.
Corelli’s concertino was invariably two violins and a cello. – the ripieno was the larger string section. Both were accompanied by a basso continuo with some combination of harpsichord, organ, lute or theorbo. The material for the concertino is generally more virtuosic than that of the ripieno. Nor does the concertino does not share thematic material with the ripieno, but presents contrasting ideas. This contrast of small group to large group and one thematic group against another is very characteristic of Baroque ideology—similar to terraced dynamics where the idea is also significant contrast.
Listen Concerto Grosso The Brandenburg Concerto No 5 .The first movement demonstrates the concerto grosso technique with the solo group (flute, violin, and harpsichord). The second and third movements do not have this alternation of solo group and repieno, But note the lengthy harpsichord cadenza beginning at 6:36 – 9:18. At 8:20 the harpsichord performance is especially virtuosic. .Remember that Bach was a virtuoso keyboard performer (harpsichord and organ). One need only picture Bach performing at this point.
The concerto grosso form was superseded by the solo concerto and the sinfonia concertante in the late eighteenth century, and new examples of the form did not appear for more than a century.
Solo Concerto
The solo concerto is a concerto in which a single soloist is accompanied by an orchestra. It is the most common type of concerto, originated during the baroque period (c. 1600–1750) as an alternative to the traditional concertino (solo group) in a concerto grosso.
A typical concerto has the following structure: 1. fast movement, 2. slow movement, 3. fast movement. There are many examples of concertos that do not follow this arrangement, however.
Earliest concertos
The most influential and prolific composer of concertos during the Baroque period was the Venetian Antonio Vivaldi (1678–1741). In addition to his nearly 60 extant ripieno concertos, Vivaldi composed approximately 425 concertos for one or more soloists, including about 350 solo concertos (two-thirds for solo violin) and 45 double concertos (over half for two violins). Vivaldi’s concertos firmly establish the three-movement form as the norm. The virtuosity of the solo sections increases markedly, especially in the later works, and concurrently the texture becomes more homophonic.
Listen to winter form The Seasons by Vivaldi. The first movement of this work is in concerto grosso style. Note at 0’44” the alternation of the orchestra and soloist and the very virtuosic performing. Though this is a concerto and not concerto grosso with a solo group it has the same characteristics of the concerto grosso in this respect. The second movement, very florid and lyrical, begins at 3’50” and the final movement is more energetic and faster in tempo beginning at 6’05”. These last two movement are not in concerto grosso style.
Concertos for instruments other than violin began to appear early in the 18th century, including the oboe concertos of George Frideric Handel and the numerous concertos for flute, oboe, bassoon, cello, and other instruments by Vivaldi. The earliest organ concertos can probably be credited to Handel (sixteen concertos, c. 1735–51), the earliest harpsichord concertos to Johann Sebastian Bach (fourteen concertos for one to four harpsichords, c. 1735–40). In the latter case, all but probably one of the concertos are arrangements of existing works. Bach had approached the idea of a harpsichord concerto before 1721 in the Brandenburg Concerto No. 5. (see above).
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From Music Appreication 1