Anne Robinson
Dr. Judith Mabary
Western Music II

April 2, 2008

Second Submission

The King of Instruments:
A Look at the Classical Solo Concerto

     Bartolomeo Cristofori is known for what was originally called a gravicembalo col

piano e forte meaning “a big harpsichord with soft and loud” (Greenberg). Employed at

the Florentine court of Grand Prince Ferdinando de’ Medici in 1688, he was an Italian

harpsichord maker who provided his services to tuning and maintaining the harpsichords

at the court. According to an anonymous entry in the Medici inventory dated 1700 this

early piano is described as a harpsichord-like instrument, “newly invented by Bartolomeo

Cristofori…an arpicimbalo” (literally, “harp-harpsichord”), with hammers and dampers

and a range spanning four octaves from C to C (New Grove).  It took a while for the

instrument to attract any attention, but there is no doubt that the inventor “desired to

produce an instrument which was more powerful in tone than the clavichord, and was

capable of more expression and dynamic range than the harpsichord” (Sumner).

Cristofori had invented what is still today the crux of the modern piano: hammer action,

as opposed to the plucking in a harpsichord, capable of dynamic gradations.

     The piano is truly a revolutionary instrument. Today, a concert D grand piano

measuring eight feet and eleven inches long, weighing a thousand pounds, with a steel

frame and a soundboard constructed in the same way as a violin for a free and perfectly

even response throughout the entire keyboard, is a monster of an instrument and can hold

its own when pitted against an entire orchestral ensemble. In the fullest sense, it is a

grand piano.

     This is certainly not the instrument used in the Classical era, but even in its early days

of concertos it rapidly became the preferred solo instrument for the genre. As

documented by the Breitkopf catalogues, the preferred solo instruments had been the

violin and the flute with a range of other instruments coming in second. But the increase

in the popularity of the piano concerto is apparent: “which in 1762 included 177 violin

concertos and 105 keyboard concertos…between 1766 and 1787, the number of newly

listed concertos amounted to 270 for the violin but 393 for keyboard” (New Grove).

     One of the most fascinating aspects of the solo concerto is the very entomology of the

term. From the Latin concertare, it can mean either “to contend, dispute, debate,” or

“to work together with someone” (New Grove). The first known usage of the term

reads “un concerto di voci in musica” from a piece dated 1519 in Rome and clearly has

the second definition in mind, meaning simply a vocal ensemble…a “get together.” As

we move through the development of the Classical solo concerto, this idea of

collaborative effort is the main theme of concerti. The soloist and the orchestra will

explore, together, many different possibilities of the musical phrases and figurations but

they will never disagree or war over the musical topic. Not until Beethoven do we begin

to see composers lean the other way and view the music of the soloist as an individual

contestant striving against the entire orchestra.

      The solo concerto originated from the concerto grosso in which a larger group

(known as the concerto grosso) alternates with the smaller group (the concertino).

Arcangelo Corelli, one of the earliest composer of concertos, preferred the concertino to

consist of two violins and a cello, a combination often employed by G. F. Handel. After

the Enlightenment, the focus moved to the individual performer heard against the

collective orchestra giving an almost perfect metaphor of the Enlightenment’s view of the

individual in society.

      Another major influence as to the musical form of the concerto is sonata form.

“Each of the first movements (of Mozart’s concertos) is a grand synthesis of ritornello

and sonata form: only one, K. 449, modulates out of the home key in the opening tutti”

(JSTOR). The Classical solo concerto usually consisted of three movements displaying a

slow middle section straddled by two fast movements. The first movement is, of course,

closely related to the sonata; the first ritornello of the orchestra stating most of the

thematic material of the piece with a first theme including transition followed by a second

theme with closing theme.  The soloist then enters and states the exposition again, this

time with some embellishments and a different closing theme, thus giving the concerto

form a double exposition. The ritornello returns at the end of the solo’s exposition,

cadencing on the dominant of the key, and the soloist goes on to perform the

development section. This is again closed with the orchestral ritornello cadencing on the

dominant before the soloist flies into the recapitulation which is varied yet again.

      The closing feature of the concerto is the cadenza, the “cadence,” performed by the

soloist before executing the long trill that signals the entrance of the final ritornello.

Although in Classical concertos, the cadenza might not “appear near the end of the first

movement …but sometimes in the finale” (Dubal). Reminiscent of the ornamental trills

and other decorations performed by a singer in the final return of the A section in da

capo arias, cadenzas were supposed to be improvisational and showy. However, most

cadenzas were written out or at least prepared before performance time. One of the very

few performers who improvised on the spot, because he had the genius and the capability,

was Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

      Mozart, “who was arguably the greatest opera composer and certainly the greatest

concerto composer who ever lived,” (Greenberg) wrote more than twenty piano concerti,

seventeen of them during his year in Vienna (1781—1791). He composed for a

fortepiano and not the colossal Steinway we typically see in concert halls today. Still,

this early version of the instrument had more resonance and a longer period of tone

decay, therefore more dynamic flexibility, than its predecessor the harpsichord and so

served its purpose well as the featured solo instrument. However, Mozart is extremely

careful as to how he combines the fortepiano with the orchestra so as not to overwhelm

the small instrument’s voice. As a result, his piano concertos are exceedingly operatic

giving the fortepiano freedom to speak, sing, elaborate and decorate all the while with a

light orchestral accompaniment giving the feel of recitativo accompagnato.

      Mozart utilizes the complete resources of the fortepiano giving an overall gloss of

pristine elegance and charm, but we should not be fooled. “Underneath his uniquely

attractive melodic surfaces is a compositional craft and rigor that render the structure of

his music as dense and strong as tungsten alloyed steel” (Greenberg). We should not

forget how difficult Mozart’s simple sounding music is to play. His compositional drama

is subtle, and therefore highly effective.

      Among his many contributions to the solo concerto besides his operatic treatment of

the instrument, are double exposition form and the soloist’s theme. Double exposition

form, as previously explained, allows the solo instrument to state the theme after the

orchestra has already done so. Mozart is not the creator of this form; it probably belongs

to J. C. Bach whom Mozart met and befriended when he toured in England. But it was

Mozart who perfected this form. Instead of having the soloist merely restate the theme, be

it varied a little, he restates it in the new key thus giving the audience not only

confirmation of what the main theme is but also to experience it anew, un-redundant, in a

different key.

      The soloist’s theme is entirely new material and became a signature feature of

Mozart’s compositions. Sometimes called the third theme, it serves as contrasting

material and gives the solo instrument another chance to strut its stuff. Because it is one

of Mozart’s own traits, and not part of any set form, the third theme can appear anywhere

in the piece, surprising the listener with different and unexpected color.

     Throughout the nineteenth century, Mozart’s piano concertos were hardly played

“because they gave little scope to “virtuosos” for spectacular exhibitions of their talents.”

(Melograni). These concertos posses an intensity, a linearity, and rigor that made them

entirely unfashionable during the romantic era. The pearly touch, controlled sound, and

poise required seemed dull by standard of our “virtuosic” pianists. It is far harder to play

with control and poise than with speed and accuracy.

      In his lecture, “The Solo Concerto,” Professor Robert Greenberg states that the violin

in any musical context is the queen of the ensemble. It is the diva, and violinists (as they

should) will never let us forget it; besides, it is what the audience wants. I agree, and

add to that statement that the piano is king. The most powerful stringed instrument with

the widest variety of sound, texture, and dynamic, as though a mini-orchestra unto itself.

It served as the revolutionary instrument to a revolutionary composer, and both

performance practice and legacy should be kept whatever the public’s taste may be.

Works Cited

Dubal, David. The Essential Canon of Classical Music. New York: North Point Press, 2001.

Greenberg, Robert. How to Listen to and Understand Great Music, 3^rd Edition. Lecture 27: “The Solo Concerto.” Chantilly, VA: The Teaching Company, 2006.

Hutchings, Arthur: “Concerto”, Grove Music Online ed. L. Macy (Accessed the 23 of February, 2008), <http://www.grovemusic.com>

JSTOR. Drabkin, William. “A Concerted Effort.” The Musical Times, Winter 2003.

Melograni, Piero. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, A Biography. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2007.

Sumner, William Leslie. The Pianoforte. p. 32. London: Macdonald, 1966.

"The eldest Jasper had always considered herself to be a sort of expert on fairy tales. She read them in a professional manner, filing away bits of information in her commonplace book (concerning which, she smiled to herself, there was nothing about it the least common-placed) and committing certain themes to memory."

For the first time, my heroine and I share something in common. Whew.