Teacher's Guide Cambridge Pre-U MUSIC Available for teaching ...

8
Cambridge Pre-U Teacher Guide
concertino of two solo violins and continuo and a ripieno, a larger string group in four parts (i.e. with
a viola part in addition to two violins and continuo), that punctuated the music mainly at cadence
points and allowed for echo effects between the solo group and the full orchestra. The solo concerto
employed a wide range of solo instruments, including the violin, cello, oboe and bassoon (and, in the
case of Vivaldi, all manner of less common instruments as well).
The distinction between these two approaches is not always entirely clear, however. There are many
concertos which use more than one solo instrument, but which really belong to the solo concerto
type, in terms of the number of movements and the use of ritornello structure. Such concertos may
be written for two or more string instruments, but frequently use wind or brass instruments, or a
mixture of wind and strings. Confusingly, concertos of this kind are often described as concerti
grossi, simply on the grounds that they have more than a single solo part. To add to the confusion,
there is evidence that performances of Corellian concerti grossi (particularly those of Handel)
sometimes used oboes and bassoons to double the ripieno. The sonority of such performances,
superficially at least, comes very close to that of a solo concerto with a solo group that includes wind
instruments.
The difference between the two types of concerto was still evident in the works of Bach and Handel.
Whereas Handel’s concertos are true concerti grossi in the manner of Corelli, Bach’s are all based on
the Vivaldian model. Bach’s formal structures are altogether more complex than Vivaldi’s, however,
and they often contain much more thematic development. In this respect they perhaps point forward
to the kind of systematic development found in music of the Classical period.
The transition from the Baroque concerto to the Classical was very gradual and involved a process of
continuous change that mirrors all the stylistic developments of the mid-eighteenth century. Much
of the music through which these developments may be traced has disappeared from the repertoire
of modern performers, and candidates will not be expected to know about the composers who
wrote concertos in centres such as Mannheim and Paris, or in Italy, Germany and Austria, during this
transitional period. The most prominent composers concerned were Bach’s sons, C. P. E. Bach and
J. C. Bach. It is significant that J. C. Bach met Mozart in London in 1764/5 and that his music had a
profound influence on the younger composer. This provides tangible evidence of the continuity of a
tradition that passed from Bach, through his sons, to Mozart.
Another aspect of this continuity of tradition is the way in which Classical structures evolved from
their Baroque predecessors. Most aspects of Classical sonata form have precedents in features of
various Baroque structures. The principle of the Recapitulation, for example, can be traced back to
the Da capo aria of Baroque opera seria and allied genres, while the convention of marking a repeat
at the end of a symphonic exposition (and sometimes also a repeat covering the development and
recapitulation) stems from the binary structure of Baroque dance and sonata movements. Similarly,
the tonic/dominant (or minor/relative major) contrast, which is such an essential feature of Classical
forms, can be observed clearly in many Baroque movements in ritornello form, where the significant
modulation to the dominant is often emphasised by a complete or nearly complete statement of the
ritornello theme.
Since the concerto was not central to Haydn’s activities at any stage in his career, and in the absence
of any examples by Schubert, the significant Classical concertos are those of Mozart and Beethoven.
Both composers wrote more concertos for the piano than for any other instrument, but candidates
www.cie.org.uk/cambridgepreu