Alfred Schnittke’s Concerto Grosso No. 1. By Peter J. Schmelz

The term concerto has been applied to music works since the early 16th century, first appearing in treatises almost a century later. Reflecting the sense of two or more forces either contending with or working together with someone (both Latin), or “arrange, agree, get together” (Italian), early concertos combined voices and instruments with no other formal consequences. These characteristics remain with the genre throughout its history. Only with the emergence of the instrumental, non-texted concerto in the late 17th century did structure begin to become an issue. Two important formal trends regarding the concerto dominate the 18th century. The most pervasive overall form is that of three movements, fast-slow-fast. The form of the first movement has attracted the most attention in the literature. Concertos in the first half of the 18th century, emanating from Italy and spreading northward, start with some version of ritornello form, which is also used in arias. In the latter part of the century, first movements increasingly take on the characteristics of sonata form, found in symphonies and sonatas, resulting in first movement concerto form or concerto-sonata form. The actual nature of the merging of the two ideas in any given work remains a vibrant topic. In one sense, the influence of the two forms, ritornello and sonata, has declined since Beethoven, giving way to other compositional concerns, yet the forms can often lurk in the background of the genre. The breadth of works that fall under the descriptive term concerto can be exasperating. Concerto also embraces a number of subgenres. The earliest works are known as vocal concertos or sacred concertos (many of them were sacred pieces), but do not always bear the designation. They are performed in stile concertato, using diverse musical forces. The term remains applicable to certain textures. The concerto grosso, connected with the Baroque, is another subgenre. Yet another subgenre is the symphonie concertante, which emerged in 18th-century France. This subgenre passed in popularity, but the term concertante continues to be applied to the texture. Later developments made use of other textures, though the symphonic concerto, originating in the 19th century, might be seen as derivative of earlier approaches. These styles and textures are major factors in many other works not called concertos, such as variation sets, fantasies, and even symphonies, to name a few.

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COMPOSITION OF ORCHESTRA AND PRINCIPLES OF ORCHESTRAL WRITING IN CONCERTO GROSSO G-DUR № 2 BY JOHANN GEORG PISENDEL

National Academy of Managerial Staff of Culture and Arts Herald ◽

10.32461/2226-3209.2.2019.177726 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 0 (2) ◽

Author(s):

Vadim Horbal

Keyword(s):

Concerto Grosso

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Popular Music, the Devil, and Aerobics

Sonic Overload ◽

10.1093/oso/9780197541258.003.0006 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 141-194

Author(s):

Peter J. Schmelz

Keyword(s):

Soviet Union ◽

Popular Music ◽

Pop Music ◽

Piano Concerto ◽

Film Scores ◽

Concerto Grosso ◽

The Soviet Union ◽

Entire Career ◽

First Time ◽

Group Center

This chapter advances the argument of Sonic Overload by turning to the interactions between art and popular music in Schnittke’s Symphony No. 1, Requiem (1975), Concerto Grosso No. 1 (1977), Piano Concerto (1979), Symphony no. 3 (1976–81), and Faust Cantata (Seid nüchtern und wachet, 1983), as well as several of his film scores. It considers for the first time Schnittke’s ongoing negotiations between high and low across his entire career, giving careful scrutiny to his declaration in the late 1980s that “pop culture is a good disguise for any kind of devilry.” Schnittke’s change of heart, from embracing popular music—and specifically jazz and rock—from the late 1960s through the 1970s, to expressing grave concerns about its effects a decade later, mirrored the sentiments of many. In the turbulent final years of the Soviet Union, rock supplanted poetry as the conscience of the nation yet it still inspired deep anxiety among those embracing traditional Soviet conceptions of being “cultured.” Schnittke’s apprehensions about popular music in the 1980s stemmed from its growing presence in the fragmented late-Soviet soundscape and its growing prestige among newly influential tastemakers, chief among them younger intellectuals and other cultural figures. The elevation of pop music in the USSR (as in the West) expanded a growing generational divide. Schnittke’s own rejection of popular music seems to have been instigated in part by his son, Andrey, who in the early 1980s was a member of the noted Moscow rock group Center (Tsentr), a fact overlooked by previous scholars.

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Preludio

Alfred Schnittke's Concerto Grosso no. 1 ◽

10.1093/oso/9780190653712.003.0001 ◽

2019 ◽

pp. 1-26

Author(s):

Peter J. Schmelz

Keyword(s):

Piano Quintet ◽

Compositional Evolution ◽

Concerto Grosso ◽

Prepared Piano

This chapter sets in motion the primary themes of the book, tracing briefly Alfred Schnittke’s compositional evolution before the Concerto Grosso no. 1, paying special attention to his Symphony no. 1 (1969–72) and his initial ideas about polystylism, as well as the works immediately preceding the Concerto Grosso no. 1, including the Piano Quintet (1972–76), Hymns (1974–79), Requiem (1975), and Moz-Art (1975–76). It also investigates the genesis, construction, and affect of the Preludio of the Concerto Grosso no. 1, focusing on its initial prepared piano chorale together with its other key motives. The chapter further discusses the interpretations of polystylism and postmodernism by such Russian writers as Svetlana Savenko and Alexander Ivashkin. Finally, the chapter sets in place the justification and format for the remainder of the book.

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Concerto Grosso Arrangements of Geminiani's Opus 1 Violin Sonatas

Recent Researches in the Music of the Baroque Era, 160 ◽

10.31022/b160 ◽

2010 ◽

Author(s):

Charles Avison

Keyword(s):

Concerto Grosso

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Uma Trama para Schnittke: Considerações Narrativas para o Concerto Grosso nº1

Música em Perspectiva ◽

10.5380/mp.v4i1.20103 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 4 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Bruno Milheira Angelo

Keyword(s):

Font Size ◽

Concerto Grosso

O presente trabalho é um ensaio sobre a narratividade musical dividido em duas partes: a primeira constitui uma revisão crítica da literatura acadêmica relacionada ao assunto, donde são extraídos fatores de relevância da narrativa na análise musical; já a segunda parte propõe uma concepção narrativa para o Concerto Grosso nº1 (Alfred Shnittke, 1977) através de uma análise que tome em consideração as constatações da primeira parte. As problemáticas aqui abordadas partem de questionamentos sobre as potenciais contribuições da narratividade na compreensão musical, bem como o âmbito em que esta ocorre na perspectiva semiológica tripartite de J. J. Nattiez.

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Concerto grosso

Hispania ◽

10.2307/342402 ◽

1982 ◽

Vol 65 (4) ◽

pp. 659

Author(s):

Armand F. Baker ◽

Juan-Ramon Zaragoza

Keyword(s):

Concerto Grosso

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Concerto grosso

10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.06254 ◽

2001 ◽

Keyword(s):

Concerto Grosso

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Howard Ferguson's Concerto for Piano and String Orchestra

Tempo ◽

10.1017/s0040298200055066 ◽

1952 ◽

pp. 24-27

Author(s):

John Russell

Keyword(s):

Twentieth Century ◽

String Orchestra ◽

Piano Concerto ◽

Concerto Grosso ◽

The Future

When the musical historian of the future writes his Chronicle of Twentieth Century Musical trends, he will surely head one chapter in that sombre document “The Undeniable Popularity of the Piano Concerto.” He will also have something to say about the String Orchestra, that melodious, economic, and scholarly medium through which so many players and conductors have lately reached their public. Then the thought must occur to him that it was indeed strange that the union of these picturesque and profitable activities should have been so relatively barren in result. “Where,” he will ask, “was a suitable piece of work for ‘after the interval’; for the second appearance of the visiting solo pianist who has already given his Bach or his Mozart (not without a recurrent pang of regret that Mozart's seldom-granted permission to dispense with oboes and horns has been gratefully acknowledged by the string-orchestral conductor), and who would rejoice to give his audience further evidence of his ability?” Works for piano and string orchestra which can fill this bill are surprisingly few; suitable contemporary British ones are almost unheard-of. Those which are at present available tend to fall into two categories: the spare, neo-classic concerto grosso, with keyboard part “apt for pianoforte or harpsichord,” and the mock-Rachmaninoff, with the piano “fat and well-liking,” bulging grossly over a collar of string-tone which in itself cannot nearly rise to adequate heights of sumptuousness.

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