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Four Movement Solo Concertos

Started by Peter1953, Thursday 14 February 2013, 22:01

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Peter1953

Just listened again to Von Flotow's PC 2 (1831), with its delicate, lovely adagio. It's rather curious that this concerto has four movements. I suppose there are not so many (unsung) solo concertos consisting of four movements, regardless of which solo instrument. Which (early) romantic composer preceded Von Flotow?

kolaboy

Gade's 5th Symphony for piano + orchestra. Underrated work...

eschiss1

no, that's not a concerto- it's a concertante work (there is a difference and not just a distinction)- and like all Gade's (surviving?) symphonies dates from 1842 or later I think. Likewise Litolff's surviving concerti symphoniques(?) which are other examples that come to mind - the earliest surviving one, I think, dates from the early 1840s... So yes, 1831 seems pretty early for a post-Baroque concerto with four distinct movements, unless I'm mistaken. (Classical-period concertos and sinfonia- concertante works in 1 or 2 movements were more common (the August Klengel first piano concerto (of at least 2) I was just looking at again, that one was published no later than 1817, for instance and has two movements, each with a brief slow introduction), and the one-movement concerto form used I think by Spohr and rather a few others occasionally (also the three-movements telescoped into one though doing both at once in a work is something not many composers ... never mind, jumping off train ;) ) - that one finds more often.

Mark Thomas

It isn't called a concerto and it doesn't have four movements, but Raff's five-movement Suite for Piano & Orchestra in both scale and character is a concerto in all but name. The parallel Suite for Violin and Orchestra is most definitely a suite, however.

Josh

Hi. Your friendly neighbourhood Classical Era nut here, spying on your Romantic types as usual. I just couldn't resist addressing the discussion about the rarity of 4-movement sinfonia concertante works in the Classical period.  It's not just that there were a number of them, it's that some of them stand out for their solo instruments and/or combinations of such.

Take, for example, Albrechtsberger's Concerto for Jew's Harp and Mandora in F Major.  He wrote seven sinfonia concertante for this odd pairing with orchestra, three of which survive today, and the one in F Major has four movements. All were written in 1764, 1765 (possibly all in this year), or 1766.  He also wrote a Concerto for Piccolo and Guitar in D Major, in four movements.

JimL

Quote from: Peter1953 on Thursday 14 February 2013, 22:01
Just listened again to Von Flotow's PC 2 (1831), with its delicate, lovely adagio. It's rather curious that this concerto has four movements. I suppose there are not so many (unsung) solo concertos consisting of four movements, regardless of which solo instrument. Which (early) romantic composer preceded Von Flotow?
Sterndale-Bennet intended his 1st PC to have 4 movements, but the publisher nixed the idea, so the finale of the concerto is actually a scherzo.  The von Flotow PC 2 may be the first Romantic period concerto to actually be in a 4 movement format, predating those of Litolff, but, of course, it went unperformed and unpublished until its recent discovery.

eschiss1

Josh- I'm not sure I meant to say that, or if I did, I was mistaken :) (I know I'm not a Romantic-music-only nut, judging certainly from my collection, though my knowledge can always use much improvement...)

minacciosa

Jeno Hubay's 3rd Violin Concerto.. Excellent piece.

Peter1953

Yes, a fine concerto. His 4th has also 4 movements. There are more examples. How about Hans Huber's PCs 1 & 3? Amy Beach...

Mark Thomas


eschiss1

Ok, there's a relatively rare example of a 4-movement concerto (but not symphony, with that genre's different rules and permissions) composed between 1831 and 1881 there (Romantic-era ones composed/published between 1810 and 1830- not sure, between 1831 and 1880- a handful? - between 1881 and 1918- I'm guessing and also seem to recall, rather more, of course :) )

Ilja

All three (although the second is lost) of Hans Huber's piano concertos are in four movements. The third one especially is a very effective piece and one of my favorites, mainly on account of its beautifully lush opening movement.

JimL

Well, Gounod's Concerto for Piano-pédalier is in 4 movements...

Gareth Vaughan

Huber actually wrote 4 piano concertos.

JimL

Of course, we're leaving out Scharwenka's 4th PC and Sauer's 1st, because by the time they were composed 4 movement concertos had already become somewhat old-hat.  Oh, and I believe the Dobrowen PC in C-sharp minor is also in 4 movements.  I'm still trying to get information on the tempo of the finale of that work. >:(