A Dictionary of Music and Musicians/Concerto
CONCERTO (Ital.; Ger. and Fr. Concert). This name is now given to an instrumental composition designed to show the skill of an executant, and which is almost invariably accompanied by orchestra—one exception being Liszt's 'Concert Pathétique' for two pianos, and another Schumann's Sonata op. 14, originally published as 'Concert sans orchestre.' The word was however at one time used differently. It was first employed by Ludovico Viadana, who in 1602–3 published a series of motets for voices and organ, which he entitled 'Concerti ecclesiastici.' In this sense the word was used as equivalent to the Latin 'concentus,' and such works were called 'Concerti da Chiesa' (Church Concertos). Soon other instruments were added to the organ; and ultimately single instrumental movements in the sacred style were written which also received the name of 'Concerti da Chiesa.' The real inventor of the modern concerto as a concert piece was Giuseppe Torelli, who in 1686 published a 'Concerto da Camera' for two violins and bass. The form was developed by Corelli, Geminiani, and Vivaldi. From the first it resembled that of the sonata; and as the latter grew out of the suite, the movements becoming larger in form and with more internal cohesion, so it was also with the concerto: there is as much difference between a concerto by Bach and one by Beethoven as there is between the 'Suites Anglaises' and the 'Waldstein' sonata. In the time of Bach and Handel the word. 'Concerto,' though applied exclusively to instrumental music, had a less restricted signification than is given to it in the present day. Many of the specimens of this form in the works of the masters named more nearly resemble symphonies than concertos in the modern acceptation of the term. For instance, the first of Handel's so-called 'Oboe Concertos' is written for strings, two flutes, two oboes, and two bassoons, and excepting in occasional passages these are treated orchestrally rather than as solo instruments; while of Bach we have a concerto for violino piccolo, three oboes, one bassoon, and two horns, with string quartet, and another for three violins, three violas, three violoncellos, and double bass, neither of which possess the characteristics of a modern concerto. The form, moreover, of the older concerto was much freer than now. With Bach we find a preference for the three-movement form at present in use. In the whole of his piano concertos, as well as in those for one or two violins, we find an allegro, a slow movement, and a finale in quick time—generally 3-8. The two concertos named above are, exceptionally, the former in four and the latter in only two movements. With Handel, on the other hand, the three-movement form is the exception. As examples of the freedom of which he makes use, may be quoted the movements of two of his 'Twelve Grand Concertos' for two violins and violoncello soli, with accompaniment for stringed orchestra. These works are concertos in the modern sense, as regards the treatment of the solo instruments; but their form is as varied as possible. Thus the sixth consists of a Larghetto, Allegro ma non troppo, Musette, and two Allegros, the second of which (though not so entitled) is a minuet; while the eighth contains an Allemande, Grave, Andante allegro, Adagio, Siciliana, and Allegro. It should be mentioned here that Handel was one of the first, if not the first, to introduce opportunities for extempore performance on the part of the soloist, thus anticipating the 'cadenza,' an important feature of the modern concerto, to be spoken of presently. In the second movement of his Organ Concerto in D minor (No. 4 of the second set) are to be found no less than six places marked organo ad libitum, and with a pause over the rests in the accompaniments, indicating that the player (that is to say, he himself) was to improvise.
The modern form of the concerto was finally settled by Mozart, and though several modifications have been introduced during the present century, the general lines of construction remain the same as fixed by him. Nearly fifty concertos of his composition for various instruments are in existence, and, while presenting slight differences of detail, closely resemble one another in the more important points. The concerto form is founded upon that of the Sonata (which see); there are however several variations which must be noted. In the first place, a concerto consists of only three movements, the scherzo, for some not very obvious reason, being excluded. For the sake of completeness it should be mentioned that Litolff's so-called Concerto-Symphonie in E flat, for piano and orchestra, has exceptionally a scherzo as the third of four movements.
The first movement in Mozart's concertos always begins with a tutti passage for the orchestra, in which the principal subjects are announced, much as in the first part of the first movement of a sonata. Sometimes the 'second subject' is omitted in this portion of the piece, but it is more frequently introduced. An important difference in form, however, is that this first tutti always ends in the original key, and not in the dominant, or the relative major (if the work be in a minor key), as would be the case in a sonata. The solo instrument then enters, sometimes at once with the principal subject, and sometimes with a brilliant introductory passage. A repetition, with considerable modification, of the first tutti mostly follows, now divided between the principal instrument and the orchestra; the second subject is regularly introduced, as in a sonata, and the 'first solo' ends with a brilliant passage in the key of the dominant (or relative major, as the case may be). A shorter tutti then leads to the second solo, which corresponds to the 'Durchführungsatz,' or 'working out' of a sonata, and which, after various modulations, leads back to the original key. The principal subject is then re-introduced by the orchestra, but in a compressed form, and is continued by the soloist with the 'third solo,' which corresponds in its form to the latter part of a sonata movement. A short final tutti brings the movement to a close. In most older concertos a pause is made, near the end of this last tutti upon the 6-4 chord on the dominant for the introduction of a cadenza by the player. Though very general, this custom was by no means universal; in several of Dussek's concertos—notably in his fine one in G minor, op. 49—no such pause is indicated. The cadenza, when introduced, could be either improvised by the player, or previously composed, either by himself or by some other person. Mozart has left us thirty-five cadenzas written for various concertos of his own, which, though presenting in general no very great technical difficulties, are models of their kind. Beethoven has also written cadenzas for his own concertos, as well as for that by Mozart in D minor. In the cadenza the player was expected not merely to show off his execution, but to display his skill in dealing with the subjects of the movement in which it was introduced. A cadenza consisting entirely of extraneous matter would be altogther faulty and out of place, no matter what its technical brilliancy. It was the invariable custom to finish the cadenza with a long shake on the chord of the dominant seventh, after which a short passage for the orchestra alone concluded the movement. In older works the soloist was silent during these few bars; but in his concerto in C minor (Köchel's Catalogue, No. 491) Mozart for the first time tried the experiment of associating the piano with the orchestra after the cadenza; and his example was followed by Beethoven in his concertos in C minor, G major, and E♭.
Before proceeding to speak of the modifications introduced into the concerto by Beethoven and other more modern composers, it will be well to complete our description of the form as left by Mozart. The second movement, which might be an andante, a larghetto, an adagio, or any other slow tempo, resembled in its form the corresponding portion of a sonata. Sometimes the variation form was used, as in Mozart's two concertos in B♭ (Köchel, Nos. 450 and 456); but more frequently the ordinary andante or larghetto was introduced. Two charming examples of the Romance will be found in the slow movement of Mozart's concertos in D minor and D major (Köchel, Nos. 466 and 537), though the latter is not, like the first, expressly so entitled, but simply bears the inscription larghetto. The solo part in the slow movements is frequently of an extremely florid character, abounding in passages of ornamentation. Sometimes a cadenza is also introduced at the close of this movement—e. g. in Mozart's Concertos in A major (Köchel, 414), C major (Köchel, 415), and G major (Köchel, 453). In such cases, as is evident from the examples written by Mozart himself for the works mentioned, the cadenza should be much shorter than in the first movement.
The finale of a concerto was mostly in rondo form, though examples are to be found in Mozart of the variation form being employed for this movement also; see concertos in C minor (Köchel, 491), and G major (Köchel, 453). Sometimes this rondo was interrupted by a complete change of tempo. Thus the rondo of the concerto in C major (Köchel, 415), which is in 6-8 time, is twice interrupted by an adagio in C minor, 2-4; in the middle of the rondo of the concerto in E♭ (Köchel, 482) is introduced an andantino cantabile; while another concerto in E♭ (Köchel, 271) has a minuet as the middle portion of the final presto. Short cadenzas were also frequently introduced in the finales; the concerto in E♭, just mentioned, has no less than three, all of which, instead of being left to the discretion of the player, are, exceptionally, written out in full. Similar short cadenzas will be found in the rondo of Beethoven's concerto in C minor, op. 37, while in the finale of the concerto in G, op. 58, a pause is made with the special direction 'La cadenza sia corta'—the cadenza to be short.
The innovations introduced by Beethoven in the form of the concerto were numerous and important. Foremost among these was the greater prominence given to the orchestra. In the concertos of Mozart, except in the tuttis, the orchestra has little to do beyond a simple accompaniment of the soloist, but with Beethoven, especially in his later concertos, the instrumental parts have really symphonic importance. Beethoven was also the first to connect the second and third movements (see concertos in G and E flat), an example which was imitated by Mendelssohn, in whose pianoforte concertos in G minor and D minor all the movements follow continuously. Beethoven, moreover, in his concertos in G and E flat, broke through the custom of commencing the work with a long tutti for the orchestra; in the former the piano begins alone, and in the latter it enters at the second bar. It is worthy of remark that the same experiment had been once, and only once, tried by Mozart, in his little-known concerto in E♭ (Köchel, 271), where the piano is introduced at the second bar. One more innovation of importance remains to be noticed. In his concerto in E♭, op. 73, Beethoven, instead of leaving a pause after the 6-4 chord for the customary cadenza, writes his own in full, with the note 'Non si fa una Cadenza, ma attacca subito il seguente'—'do not make a cadenza, but go on at once to the following.' His cadenza has the further peculiarity of being accompanied from the nineteenth bar by the orchestra. Another curious example of an accompanied cadenza is to be found in that which Beethoven has written for his pianoforte arrangement of his violin concerto, op. 61, through a considerable part of which the piano is accompanied by the drums, which give the chief subject of the movement.
It is evident that the example of Beethoven in his E♭ concerto led the way to the disuse of the introduced cadenza in the first movement. Neither Mendelssohn nor Brahms in their pianoforte concertos have inserted one at all; and where such is intended, composers mostly write out in full what they wish played, as for example Mendelssohn in his violin concerto, op. 64 (where, it may be remarked in passing, the cadenza is the middle of the first movement, and not at the end). Schumann (concerto in A minor, op. 54) and Raff (concerto in C minor, op. 185) have also both written their cadenzas in full.
The concertos written since those of Beethoven have been mostly constructed upon the lines he laid down. The introductory tutti has been shortened (as in Mendelssohn's, Schumann's, and Raff's concertos), though occasionally works are still written in the older form, the most striking example being Brahma's concerto in D minor, in which the piano does not enter till the ninety-first bar. Sometimes also a quickening of the tempo is introduced at the end of the first movement (Schumann, op. 54; Grieg, op. 16). Various other modifications have been made by different composers, of which it is not necessary to speak in detail, as they are merely isolated examples, and have not, at least as yet, become accepted as models of the form. The two concertos for piano and orchestra by Liszt are constructed upon a plan so different from that generally adopted that they should rather be described as fantasias or rhapsodies than aa concertos in the ordinary meaning of the term.
Sometimes concertos are written for more than one solo instrument, and are then known as double, triple, etc., concertos as the case may be. The construction of the work is precisely the ame as when composed for only one instrument. As examples may be named Bach's concertos for two violins, and for two, three, and four pianos; Mozart's Concerto in E♭ for two pianos, and in C for flute and harp; Beethoven's triple concerto, op. 56, for piano, violin, and violoncello; Maurer's for 4 violins and orchestra. Mendelssohn's autograph MSS., now in the Imperial Library at Berlin, contain 2 Concertos for 2 pianos and orchestra, and one for piano and violin, with strings.