See also:

• CONCERTO (Lat. concertus, from certare, to strive, also con-fused with concentus)

CONCERTO (See also:

• LAT

Lat. concertus, from certare, to strive, also See also:

• CON

con-fused with concentus)  , in See also:

• MUSIC

music, a See also:

• TERM

term which appears as See also:

• EARLY
• EARLY, JUBAL ANDERSON (1816-1894)

early as the beginning of the 17th See also:

• CENTURY (from Lat. centuria, a division of a hundred men)

century, at first as a See also:

• TITLE (0. Fr. title, mod. titre, from Lat. titulus)

title of no very definite meaning, but which early acquired a sense justified by its See also:

• ETYMOLOGY (Gr. grvµos, true, and X6yos, "account)

etymology and became applied chiefly to.compositions in which unequal instrumental or vocal forces are brought into opposition . Although by See also:

• BACH, JOHANN SEBASTIAN (1685–1750)
• BACH, KARL PHILIPP EMANUEL (1714-1788)

Bach's See also:

• TIME (0. Eng. Lima, cf. Icel. timi, Swed. timme, hour, Dan. time; from the root also seen in " tide," properly the time of between the flow and ebb of the sea, cf. O. Eng. getidan, to happen, " even-tide," &c.; it is not directly related to Lat. tempus)
• TIME, MEASUREMENT OF
• TIME, STANDARD

time the See also:

• CONCERTO (Lat. concertus, from certare, to strive, also con-fused with concentus)

concerto as a polyphonic instrumental See also:

• FORM (Lat. forma)

form was thoroughly established, the term frequently appears in the autograph title-pages of his See also:

• CHURCH
• CHURCH (according to most authorities derived from the Gr. Kvpcaxov [&wµa], " the Lord's [house]," and common to many Teutonic, Slavonic and other languages under various forms—Scottish kirk, Ger. Kirche, Swed. kirka, Dan. kirke, Russ. tserkov, Buig. cerk
• CHURCH, FREDERICK EDWIN (1826-1900)
• CHURCH, GEORGE EARL (1835–1910)
• CHURCH, RICHARD WILLIAM (1815–189o)
• CHURCH, SIR RICHARD (1784–1873)

church cantatas, even when the See also:

• CANTATA (Italian for a song or story set to music)

cantata contains no instrumental prelude . Indeed, so entirely does the actual concerto form, as Bach understands it, depend upon the opposition of masses of See also:

• TONE, THEOBALD WOLFE (1763-1798)

tone unequal in See also:

• VOLUME

volume with a compensating inequality in See also:

• POWER [WILLIAM GRATTAN] TYRONE (1797-1841)

power of commanding See also:

• ATTENTION (from Lat. ad-tendo, await, expect; the condition of being " stretched " or " tense ")

attention, that Bach is able to rewrite an instrumental See also:

• MOVEMENT

movement as a See also:

• CHORUS (Gr. xopbs)Z

chorus without. the least incongruity of See also:

• STYLE
• STYLE (from Gr. a-6'1ms, a column; a different word from that used in literature, see below)

style . A splendid example of this is the first chorus of a university festival cantata, Vereinigte Zwietracht der wechselnden Saiten, the very title of which (" See also:

• UNITED

united contest of turn-about strings ") is a perfect See also:

• DEFINITION (Lat. definitio, from de-finire, to set limits to, describe)

definition of the earlier form of concerto grosso, in which the See also:

• CHIEF (from Fr. chef, head, Lat. caput)

chief See also:

• MASS (O.E. maesse; Fr. messe; Ger. Messe; Ital. messa; from eccl. Lat. missa)
• MASS, IN

mass of the See also:

• ORCHESTRA (Fr. Orchestre; Ger. Kapelle, Orchester; Ital. Orchestra)

orchestra was opposed, not to a See also:

• MERE
• MERE, ADALBERT (1838-1909)

mere See also:

• SOLO, OR SOLO WHIST

solo See also:

• INSTRUMENT (Lat. instrumentum, from insincere, to build up, furnish, arrange, prepare)

instrument, but to a small See also:

• GROUP

group called the concertino. or elsethe whole See also:

• WORK

work was for a large orchestral mass in which tutti passages alternate with passages in which the whole orchestra is dispersed in every possible See also:

• KIND (O. E. ge-cynde, from the same root as is seen in " kin," supra)

kind of grouping . But the See also:

• SPECIAL

special significance of this particular chorus is that it is arranged from the second movement of the first See also:

• BRANDENBURG

Brandenburg concerto; and that while the orchestral material is unaltered except for trans-position of See also:

• KEY
• KEY (in O. Eng. tang; the ultimate origin of the word is unknown; it appears only in Old Frisian kei of other Teutonic languages; until the end of the 17th century the pronunciation was kay, as in other words in O. Eng. ending in aeg; cf. daeg, day; clang
• KEY (the phraseograms being indicated by hyphens)
• KEY, SIR ASTLEY COOPER (1821-1888)
• KEY, THOMAS HEWITT (1799-1875)

key, enlargement of force and substitution of trumpets and drums for the See also:

• ORIGINAL

original horns, the whole chorus See also:

• PART

part has been evolved from the solo part for a See also:

• KIT (1) (probably an adaptation of the Middle Dutch kitie, a wooden tub, usually with a lid and handles; in modern Dutch kit means a tankard)

kit See also:

• VIOLIN

violin (violino See also:

• PICCOLO (Fr. petite filte octave; Ger. Pickelflote; Ital. flauto piccolo or ottavino)

piccolo) . This admirably illustrates Bach's grasp of the true See also:

• IDEA (Gr. Ibia, connected with i&eiv, to see; cf. Lat. species from specere, to look at)

idea of a concerto, namely, that whatever the relations may be between the forces in respect of volume or See also:

• SOUND
• SOUND, THE (Danish Oresund)

sound, the whole treatment of the form must depend upon the healthy relation of See also:

• FUNCTION

function between that force which commands more and that which commands less attention . Ceteris paribus the individual, suitably placed, will command more attention than the See also:

• CROWD, CROUTH, CROWTH

crowd, whether in real See also:

• LIFE

life, See also:

• DRAMA (literally "action," from Gr. Snail, act or do)

drama or instrumental music . And in music the human See also:

• VOICE (Fr. voix, from Lat. vox)

voice, with human words, will thrust any orchestral force into the background, the moment it can make itself heard at all . Hence it is not surprising that the earlier concerto forms should show the closest See also:

• AFFINITY (Lat. affinitas, relationship by marriage, from offinis, bordering on, related to; finis, border, boundary)
• AFFINITY, CHEMICAL

affinity (not only in See also:

• GENERAL
• GENERAL (Lat. generalis, of or relating to a genus, kind or class)

general aesthetic principle, but in many technical details) with the form of the vocal See also:

• ARIA (Ital. for " air ")

aria, as matured by Alessandro See also:

• SCARLATTI, ALESSANDRO (1659-1725)

Scarlatti . And the treatment of the orchestra is, mutatis mutandis, exactly the same in both . The orchestra is entrusted with a highly pregnant and See also:

• SHORT, FRANCIS JOB (1857– )

short See also:

• SUMMARY

summary of the See also:

• MAIN (from the Aryan root which appears in " may " and " might," and Lat. magnus, great)
• MAIN (Lat. Moenus)

main contents of the movement, and the solo, or the See also:

• GROUPS
• GROUPS, THEORY

groups corresponding thereto, will either take up this material or first introduce new themes to be combined with it, and, in short, enter into relations with the orchestra very like those between the actors and the chorus in See also:

• GREEK
• GREEK, ETRUSCAN AND

Greek drama . If the aria before See also:

• MOZART, WOLFGANG AMADEUS1 (1756–1791)

Mozart may be regarded as a single large See also:

• MELODY (Gr. ,ueXw3ia, a choral song, from name, tune, and gi6i, song)

melody See also:

• EXPANDED

expanded by the See also:

• DEVICE

device of the ritornello so as to give full expression to the power of a See also:

• SINGER, SIMEON (1846-1906)

singer against an instrumental See also:

• ACCOMPANIMENT (i.e. that which " accompanies ")

accompaniment, so the polyphonic concerto form may be regarded as an expansion of the aria form to a See also:

• SCALE
• SCALE (1) A

scale worthy of the larger and purely instrumental forces employed, and so rendered capable of absorbing large polyphonic and other types of structure incompatible with the lyric idea of the aria .

The da See also:

• CAPO

capo form, by which the aria had attained its full dimensions through the addition of a second See also:

• STRAIN (through O. Fr. straindre, estraindre, mod. i treindre, from Lat. stringere, to draw tight, related to stress, stretch, string, &c.)

strain in See also:

• FOREIGN

foreign keys followed by the original strain da capo, was absorbed by the polyphonic concerto on an enormous scale, both in first movements and finales (see Bach's Klavier concerto in E, Violin concerto in E, first movement), while for slow movements the ground See also:

• BASS
• BASS (the same word as " base," and so pronounced, but influenced in spelling by the Ital. basso)

bass (see See also:

• VARIATIONS
• VARIATIONS, CALCULUS
• VARIATIONS, CALCULUS OF

VARIATIONS), diversified by changes of key (Klavier concerto in D See also:

• MINOR
• MINOR (Lat. for smaller, lesser)
• MINOR, ROBERT CRANNELL (1839-1904)

minor), the more melodic types of binary form, sometimes with the repeats ornamentally varied or inverted (Concerto for 3 klaviers in D minor, Concerto for klavier, See also:

• FLUTE

flute and violin in A minor), and in finales the See also:

• RONDO

rondo form (Violin concerto in E See also:

• MAJOR
• MAJOR (Lat. for " greater ")
• MAJOR (or MAIR), JOHN (1470-1550)

major, Klavier concerto in F minor) and the binary form (3rd Brandenburg concerto) may be found . When conceptions of musical form changed and the See also:

• MODERN

modern See also:

• SONATA (From Ital. sonare, to sound)

sonata style arose, the See also:

• PECULIAR

peculiar conditions of the concerto gave rise to problems the difficulty of which only the highest classical intellects could appreciate or solve . The number and contrast of the themes necessary to work out a first movement of a sonata are far too See also:

• GREAT

great to be contained within the single musical See also:

• SENTENCE (Lat. sententia, a way of thinking, opinion, judgment; vote, sentire, to feel, think)

sentence of Bach's and See also:

• HANDEL, GEORGE FREDERICK (1685–1759)

Handel's ritornello, even when it is as See also:

• LONG, GEORGE (1800-1879)
• LONG, JOHN DAVIS (1838– )

long as the See also:

• THIRTY

thirty bars of Bach's See also:

• ITALIAN

Italian concerto (a work in which every essential of the polyphonic concerto is reproduced on the See also:

• HARPSICHORD, HARPSICON, DOUBLE VIRGINALS (Fr. clavecin; Ger. Clavicymbel, Kiel-Flugel; Ital. arpicordo, cembalo, davicembalo, gravecembalo; Dutch, davisinbal)

harpsichord by means of the contrasts between its full See also:

• REGISTER

register on the See also:

• LOWER

lower of its two keyboards and its solo stops on both) . Bach's sons had taken shrewd steps in forming the new style; and Mozart, as a boy, modelled himself closely on Johann See also:

• CHRISTIAN
• CHRISTIAN, WILLIAM (1608-1663)

Christian Bach, and by the time he was twenty was able to write concerto ritornellos that gave the orchestra admirable opportunity for asserting its See also:

• CHARACTER (Gr. xapareri7p, from xap&crew, to scratch)

character and resource in the statement in charmingly epigrammatic style of some five or six sharply contrasted themes, afterwards to be-worked out with additions by the solo with the orchestra's co-operation and intervention . As the scale of the See also:

• WORKS

works increases the problem becomes very difficult, because the See also:

• ALTERNATION (from Lat. alternare, to do by turns)

alternation between solo and Bass See also:

• CONCERTINA, or MELODION (Fr. concertina, Ger. Ziehharmonica or Bandoneon)

concertina, single See also:

• ACTION

action See also:

• DOUBLE
• DOUBLE (from the Mid. Eng. duble, the form which gives the present pronunciation, through the Old Er. duble, from Lat. duplus, twice as much)

Double bass concertina, single action tutti easily produces a sectional type of structure incompatible with the high degree of organization required in first movements; yet frequent alternation is evidently necessary, as the orchestral solo is audible only above a very subdued orchestral accompaniment, and it would be highly inartistic to use the orchestra for no other purpose . Hence in the classical concerto the ritornello is never abandoned, in spite of the enormous dimensions to which the sonata style expanded it . And though from the time of Mendelssohn onwards most composers have seemed to regard it as a conventional impediment easily abandoned, it may be doubted whether any modern concerto, except the four magnificent examples of See also:

• BRAHMS, JOHANNES (1833–1897)

Brahms, and Dr See also:

• JOACHIM, JOSEPH (1831—1907)

Joachim's Hungarian concerto, possesses first movements in which the orchestra seems to enjoy breathing space . And certainly in the classical concerto the entry of the solo instrument, after the long opening tutti, is always dramatic in See also:

• DIRECT

direct proportion to its delay . The great danger in handling so long an orchestral prelude is that the work may for some minutes be indistinguishable from a See also:

• SYMPHONY

symphony and thus the entry of the solo may be unexpected without being inevitable . This is especially the See also:

• CASE
• CASE, JOHN (d. 1600)

case if the composer has treated his opening tutti like the exposition of a sonata movement, and made a deliberate transition from his first group of themes to a second group in a complementary key, even if the transition is only temporary, as in See also:

• BEETHOVEN, LUDWIG VAN (1770-1827)

Beethoven's C minor concerto . Mozart keeps his whole tutti in the tonic, relieved only by his mastery of sudden subsidiary modulation; and so perfect is his marshalling of his resources that in his hands a tutti a See also:

• HUNDRED

hundred bars long passes by with the effect of a splendid See also:

• PAGEANT

pageant, of which the meaning is evidently about to be revealed by the solo . After the C minor concerto, Beethoven grasped the true function of the opening tutti and enlarged it to his new purposes .

With an interesting experiment of Mozart's before him, he, in his G major concerto, Op . 53, allowed the solo player to See also:

• STATE
• STATE, GREAT OFFICERS OF

state the opening theme, making the orchestra enter pianissimo in a foreign key, a wonderful incident which has led to the absurd statement that he "abolished the opening tutti," and that Mendelssohn in so doing has " followed his example." In this concerto he also gave considerable variety of key to the opening tutti by the use of an important theme which executes a considerable See also:

• SERIES (a Latin word from serere, to join)

series of modulations, an entirely different thing from a deliberate modulation from material in one key to material in another . His fifth and last See also:

• PIANOFORTE (Ital. piano, soft, and forte, loud)

pianoforte concerto, in E See also:

• FLAT (a modification of O. Eng. flet, an obsolete word of Teutonic origin, meaning the ground beneath the feet)

flat, commonly called the " See also:

• EMPEROR (Fr. empereur, from the Lat. imperator)

Emperor," begins with a rhapsodical introduction of extreme brilliance for the solo player, followed by a tutti of unusual length which is confined to the tonic major and minor with a strictness explained by the gorgeous modulations with which the solo subsequently treats the second subject . In this concerto Beethoven also dispenses with the only really conventional feature of the form, namely, the cadenza, a See also:

• CUSTOM (from O. Fr. costume, costume or coustume; Low Lat. costuma, a shortened form of consuetudo)

custom elaborated from the operatic aria, in which the singer was allowed to extemporize a flourish on a pause near the end . A similar pause was made in the final ritornello of a concerto, and the soloist was supposed to extemporize what should be See also:

• EQUIVALENT

equivalent to a symphonic See also:

• CODA (Ital. for " tail "; from the Lat. cauda)

coda, with results which could not but be deplorable unless the player (or cadenza writer) were either the composer himself, or capable of entering into his intentions, like Joachim, who has written the finest extant cadenza of classical violin concertos . Brahms's first concerto in D minor, Op . 15, was the result of an immense amount of work, and, though on a mass of material originally intended for a symphony, was nevertheless so perfectly assimilated into the true concerto form that in his next See also:

• ESSAY, ESSAYIST (Fr. essai, Late Lat. exagium, a weighing or balance; exigere, to examine; the term in general meaning any trial or effort)

essay, the violin concerto, Op . 77, he had no more to learn, and was See also:

• FREE

free to make true innovations . He succeeds in presenting the contrasts even of remote keys so immediately that they are service-able in the opening tutti and give the form a wider range in definitely functional key than any other instrumental music . Thus in the opening tutti of the D minor concerto the second eubject is announced in B flat minor . In the B flat pianoforte concerto, Op . 83, it appears in D minor, and in the double concerto, Op .

102, for violin and See also:

• VIOLONCELLO (Fr. violoncelle, Ger. Violoncell, Ital. violoncello)

violoncello in A minor it appears in F major . In none of these cases is it in the key in which the solo develops it, and it is reached with a directness sharply contrasted with the symphonic deliberation with which it is approached in the solo . In the violin concerto, Op . 77, Brahms develops a counterplot in the opposition between solo and orchestra, inasmuch as after the solo has worked out its second subject the orchestra bursts in, not with the opening ritornello, but with its own version of the material with which the solo originally entered . In other words we have now not only the development by the solo of material stated by the orchestra but also a See also:

• COUNTER

counter-development by the orchestra of material stated by the solo . This concerto is, on the other See also:

• HAND
• HAND (a word common to Teutonic languages; cf. Ger. Hand, Goth. handus)
• HAND, FERDINAND GOTTHELF (1786-185r)

hand, remark-able as being the last in which a See also:

• BLANK (from the Fr. blanc, white)

blank space is See also:

• LEFT

left for a cadenza, Brahms having in his friend Joachim a kindred spirit worthy of such See also:

• TRUST

trust . In the pianoforte concerto in B flat, and in the double concerto,' Op . 102, the idea of an See also:

• INTRODUCTORY

introductory statement in which the solo takes part before the opening tutti is carried out on a large scale, and in the double concerto both first and second subjects are thus suggested . It is unnecessary to speak of the other movements of concerto form, as the sectional structure that so easily results from the opposition between solo and orchestra is not of great disadvantage to slow movements and finales, which accordingly do not show important See also:

• DIFFERENCES, CALCULUS OF (Theory of Finite Differences)

differences from the See also:

• ORDINARY (med. Lat. ordinarius, Fr. ordinaire)

ordinary types of symphonic and chamber music . The See also:

• SCHERZO (Italian for " a joke ")

scherzo, on the other hand, is normally of too small a range of contrast for successful See also:

• ADAPTATION (from Lat. adaptare. to fit to)

adaptation to concerto form, and the solitary great example of its use is the second movement of Brahms's B flat pianoforte concerto, Nothing is more easy to handle with inartistic or pseudo-classic effectiveness than the opposition between a brilliant solo player and an orchestra; and, as the inevitable tendency of even the most See also:

• ARTISTIC

artistic concerto has been to exhaust the resources of the solo instrument in the increased difficulty of making a proper contrast between solo and orchestra, so the technical difficulty of concertos has steadily increased until even in classical times it was so great that the orthodox definition of a concerto is that it is " an instrumental See also:

• COMPOSITION
• COMPOSITION (Lat. compositio, from componere, to put together)

composition designed to show the skill of an executant, and one which is almost invariably accompanied by orchestra." This idea is in flat violation of the whole See also:

• HISTORY

history and See also:

• AESTHETICS

aesthetics of the form, which can never be understood by means of a study of averages . In See also:

• ART

art the See also:

• AVERAGE

average is always false, and the individual organization of the greatest classical works is the only sound basis for generalizations, historic or aesthetic . (D .

F .