Concerto of the Baroque, Classical and Romantic Eras
(Click here to download information/revision sheets for all 4 Concerto styles you have to know for the exam - Baroque solo, Baroque Concerto Grosso, Classical and Romantic)
Follow this link to watch revision videos on AOS2 - Concerto Through Time
Follow this link to download a PLC for Area of Study 2.
What is a Concerto?
- The concerto is a work for a solo instrument that is accompanied by an orchestra.
- Be aware that in the earliest concertos (Baroque period) there were often 2 or more soloists
- The concerto usually has 3 movements (Fast - Slow - Fast)
- A concerto's movements feature the following:
- Tutti sections, where the full orchestra plays
- Solo sections, where the spotlight is on the solo instrument. It may be lightly accompanied by sections of the orchestra or the soloist might play alone.
- Cadenza , from the Classical period onwards. This is an unaccompanied passage for the soloist, who will often play virtuosically (quick scales/arpeggios at extreme registers, large leaps, ornamentation). The cadenza usually comes towards the end of the first movement. These were initially improvised but by the Romantic period they were composed in advance by the composer or the performer.
- Themes (musical phrases and ideas) are passed between the soloist and orchestra.
Things to look out for in the AOS...
- The role of the soloist and how it changes over time
- How the soloist's music becomes more virtuosic, especially into the Romantic period
- The changing relationships between the soloist and orchestra
- How the orchestra grows from the Baroque period through to the Romantic period