Concerto

Concerto

Concerto, musical composition, typically in three movements, for one or more solo instruments with orchestra. The musical title concerto was first used in Italy in the 16th century, but it did not become common until about 1600, at the beginning of the baroque era in Italy. At first concerto and the related adjective concertato referred to a mixture of instrumental tone colors, voices, or both, and were applied to a wide variety of sacred and secular pieces that called for a mixed group of instruments, singers, or both. The group could be treated either as a unified but mixed ensemble, or as contrasting sounds set in opposition to one another. This “concerto style” was developed especially by the Italian composer Claudio Monteverdi, particularly in his fifth through eighth books of madrigals (1605-1638). Influenced partly by Monteverdi, the German composer Heinrich Schütz applied the new style to German sacred works. This meaning of concerto continued into the 18th century, as in the many sacred cantatas by Johann Sebastian Bach entitled “Concerto.”

THE CONCERTO GROSSO AND ITS OFFSHOOTS
THE CLASSICAL CONCERTO
THE ROMANTIC ERA
THE 20TH CENTURY