ASSIGNMENT: The meaning of the term  concerto  has changed at least three times in the history of music. What are the major elements of the concerto? Is there always a soloist? Is there a traditional musical form? Refer to the listening examples in the Special Focus (Concertos) to support your conclusions. This assignment requires a full page (400 to 500 words) submission. PLEASE DO THE ASSIGNMENT BASED ON THE LESSON BELOW and a few research.... just follow the direction here. Lesson: Special Focus: The Concerto This Special Focus explores the concerto and the relationship between the soloist and the orchestra. Search the Internet or the library for the term concerto. To narrow your search, you could type the words concerto and history (only sites with these terms are returned). Or look up appropriate phrases. Putting the words between quotation marks gives you information on the whole phrase (try pairing concerto with different words or phrase combinations, depending on your area of interest, e.g., Bach, "20th Century,” composing, Paganini, 1800s, soloist, exposition, symphony, history, etc.) Listen to the following selections (you will refer to these in your writing assignment): The Four Seasons (Spring), by Antonio Vivaldi Trumpet Concerto in E-Flat Major, by Joseph Haydn Piano Concerto No. 23 in A Major, by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Concerto for Orchestra, by Béla Bartók Concerto Grosso 1985, by Ellen Taaffe Zwilich Orchestral Concerto The concerto grosso of the Baroque Period developed into the solo concerto of the Classical Period, and finally into the orchestral concerto as in Bartok’s Concerto for Orchestra (studied in Lesson 10). This work is called a concerto because of the soloistic nature of the instruments within the orchestra; it is in essence a return to the orchestral concertos of the Baroque Era. Modern concertos continued to experiment with different combinations of soloists and orchestra. The orchestra itself was also changing. For example, Arthur Bliss wrote a concerto for an interesting combination of piano, tenor voice, xylophone, and strings in 1933. Ellen Zwilich’s Concerto Grosso 1985 is another intriguing work written in the spirit of an orchestral concerto. There is no specific soloist; there are five movements, and the theme is based on a theme from Handel’s Sonata in D for violin. With this work, the term “concerto” seems to have come full circle from the Baroque Era. Finally, the 1965 composition Piano Concerto, by Elliott Carter, integrates three contrasting elements. In this two-movement work, the orchestra and piano soloist are musically immiscible; there is, however, a concertino group of seven instrumentalists that acts as an intermediary between the musical ideas presented in the orchestra and the conflicting ideas of the pianist. Carter raised contrast to yet another level of complexity and intellectualism. The term “concerto” has remained fluid for centuries and continues to reappear as new forms in whi.

1. ASSIGNMENT:
The meaning of the term
concerto
has changed at least three times in the history of music. What
are the major elements of the concerto? Is there always a
soloist? Is there a traditional musical form? Refer to the
listening examples in the Special Focus (Concertos) to support
your conclusions. This assignment requires a full page (400 to
500 words) submission.
PLEASE DO THE ASSIGNMENT BASED ON THE LESSON
BELOW and a few research.... just follow the direction here.
Lesson:
Special Focus: The Concerto
This Special Focus explores the concerto and the relationship
between the soloist and the orchestra.
Search the Internet or the library for the term concerto. To
narrow your search, you could type the words concerto and
history (only sites with these terms are returned). Or look up
appropriate phrases. Putting the words between quotation marks
gives you information on the whole phrase (try pairing concerto
with different words or phrase combinations, depending on your
area of interest, e.g., Bach, "20th Century,” composing,
Paganini, 1800s, soloist, exposition, symphony, history, etc.)
Listen to the following selections (you will refer to these in
your writing assignment):
The Four Seasons (Spring), by Antonio Vivaldi
Trumpet Concerto in E-Flat Major, by Joseph Haydn
Piano Concerto No. 23 in A Major, by Wolfgang Amadeus
Mozart
Concerto for Orchestra, by Béla Bartók
Concerto Grosso 1985, by Ellen Taaffe Zwilich
Orchestral Concerto
The concerto grosso of the Baroque Period developed into the

2. solo concerto of the Classical Period, and finally into the
orchestral concerto as in Bartok’s Concerto for Orchestra
(studied in Lesson 10). This work is called a concerto because
of the soloistic nature of the instruments within the orchestra; it
is in essence a return to the orchestral concertos of the Baroque
Era. Modern concertos continued to experiment with different
combinations of soloists and orchestra. The orchestra itself was
also changing. For example, Arthur Bliss wrote a concerto for
an interesting combination of piano, tenor voice, xylophone,
and strings in 1933. Ellen Zwilich’s Concerto Grosso 1985 is
another intriguing work written in the spirit of an orchestral
concerto. There is no specific soloist; there are five movements,
and the theme is based on a theme from Handel’s Sonata in D
for violin. With this work, the term “concerto” seems to have
come full circle from the Baroque Era.
Finally, the 1965 composition Piano Concerto, by Elliott Carter,
integrates three contrasting elements. In this two-movement
work, the orchestra and piano soloist are musically immiscible;
there is, however, a concertino group of seven instrumentalists
that acts as an intermediary between the musical ideas presented
in the orchestra and the conflicting ideas of the pianist. Carter
raised contrast to yet another level of complexity and
intellectualism. The term “concerto” has remained fluid for
centuries and continues to reappear as new forms in which
contrasting musical ideas and sounds excite and surprise.
The Instrumental Soloist -
Concerto
Seeing and hearing a virtuoso effortlessly perform demanding
music is awe inspiring. Anyone who has tried to play an
instrument realizes the technical skill required to play even
moderately difficult music; hearing virtuoso talent in light of
one's own attempt at playing the same instrument is sensational.
The premier form for virtuoso display is the concerto. The word
“concerto” has been a part of music history for hundreds of
years. The first secular concert work called a concerto is
attributed to Torelli in 1686. The form was quickly adopted and

3. developed by Corelli and Vivaldi. The first concertos were
orchestral works featuring several soloists or a small ensemble
within the orchestra.
We first encountered these orchestral concertos in our study of
the Baroque Period with the work of Vivaldi. Review the
example of The Four Seasons in Lesson 6; much of the drama of
the concerto grosso came from the virtuosic displays of the
soloists and the contrasting dynamic levels between the soloists
and the orchestra. The concerto grosso commonly pitted the
tone colors of two, three, or four soloists against a full
orchestral backdrop, perhaps the most famous being the
Brandenburg Concertos by J. S. Bach. His six concerto grossi
featured many different instruments from various instrumental
families. The second concerto, in particular, combined the most
diverse of instrumental soloists: the trumpet, flute, oboe, and
violin.
In the Classical Period, the concerto retained the three-
movement structure of the concerto grosso, but featured only
one soloist. These works were often written by composers who
were themselves great soloists. The most notable composer-
performers in this period were Mozart and Beethoven. Their
mastery of this form and their superior ability to improvise
brilliant cadenzas set standards by which others would compose
and perform.
The Soloist and Improvisation
A cadenza generally appears in the first movement and
sometimes in the last. It traditionally follows a dissonant chord
played by the orchestra. The soloist continues with exciting
technical displays of skill, playing fast scales and arpeggios.
The cadenza usually develops material presented earlier in the
movement. The orchestra waits in silence until the soloist is
finished. The signal ending the cadenza is customarily a long
trill; after this, the orchestra finally resolves the earlier
dissonant chord.
The Soloist in Chamber Music

4. In chamber music, a parallel structure for soloists arose in the
development of the sonata. Before the Baroque Period, the
sonata merely meant that the music was played and not sung as
in cantata. Violin sonatas were first to dominate the musical
world. Corelli and Purcell brought violin sonatas and trio
sonatas to new heights. They were themselves violinists and
favored the instrument. For this same reason, Vivaldi focused
his attention on solo violin works.
Although the term “sonata” broadly covered many instrumental
works, it slowly evolved into a three-movement work similar to
the concerto. The major difference was that the accompaniment
was supplied by a continuo or a keyboard instrument in lieu of
an orchestra. The major exception to this convention was the
keyboard sonata; harpsichords and pianos were capable of
supplying their own accompaniment. Instruments such as the
flute, violin, or clarinet could not add the harmonic interest
capable of a keyboard. There are, however, brilliant exceptions
where solo instruments perform sonatas without any
accompaniment, including the unaccompanied violin sonatas of
Bach and, in the early twentieth century, Max Reger.
The single-movement sonatas of Domenico Scarlatti in the
Baroque Era exemplify the early ambiguity of a sonata’s larger
structure. Piano sonatas borrowed their structure from the multi-
movement keyboard suites of the Baroque Era. The number of
movements slowly settled on three or four. The third movement
or scherzo was dropped by the eighteenth and nineteenth
century, when the three-movement structure became the
favorite.
At the same time, the construction of the piano improved,
giving the instrument more brilliance and projection. This
development interested composers who themselves played the
piano. Beethoven was both a talented pianist and composer and
wrote many works for piano. All in all, he wrote five piano
concertos and thirty-two solo sonatas, as well as other chamber
works involving piano.