Sinfonia concertante (; also called ''symphonie concertante'') is an orchestral work, normally in several movements, in which one or more solo instruments contrast with the full orchestra.
[Collins: ''Encyclopedia of Music'', William Collins Sons & Company Ltd., 1976 504. o.] It emerged as a musical form during the
Classical period of Western music from the
Baroque
The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...
concerto grosso. Sinfonia concertante encompasses the
symphony and the
concerto
A concerto (; plural ''concertos'', or ''concerti'' from the Italian plural) is, from the late Baroque era, mostly understood as an instrumental composition, written for one or more soloists accompanied by an orchestra or other ensemble. The ...
genres, a concerto in that soloists are on prominent display, and a symphony in that the soloists are nonetheless discernibly a part of the total ensemble and not preeminent. Sinfonia concertante is the ancestor of the double and triple concerti of the
Romantic period corresponding approximately to the 19th century.
Classical era
In the
Baroque period, the differences between a
concerto
A concerto (; plural ''concertos'', or ''concerti'' from the Italian plural) is, from the late Baroque era, mostly understood as an instrumental composition, written for one or more soloists accompanied by an orchestra or other ensemble. The ...
and a ''
sinfonia'' (also "symphony") were initially not all that clear. The word ''sinfonia'' would, for example, be used as the name for an
overture
Overture (from French ''ouverture'', "opening") is a music instrumental introduction to a ballet, opera, or oratorio in the 17th century. During the early Romantic era, composers such as Beethoven and Mendelssohn composed overtures which ...
to a stage work.
Antonio Vivaldi
Antonio Lucio Vivaldi (4 March 1678 – 28 July 1741) was an Italian composer, virtuoso violinist, impresario of Baroque music and Roman Catholic priest. Regarded as one of the greatest Baroque composers, Vivaldi's influence during his lif ...
wrote "concertos" which did not highlight individual soloists and which were stylistically more or less indistinguishable from his "sinfonias." The Baroque genre that comes closest to the Classical ''sinfonia concertante'' is the
concerto grosso; among the most famous of these are those by
Arcangelo Corelli
Arcangelo Corelli (, also , ; ; 17 February 1653 – 8 January 1713) was an List of Italian composers, Italian composer and violinist of the middle Baroque music, Baroque era. His music was key in the development of the modern genres of Sonata a ...
and
George Frideric Handel.
During the Classical period (roughly 1750–1800), both the symphony and the concerto had acquired more definite meanings, and the ''concerto grosso'' had disappeared altogether. In the second half of the 18th century, this led to attempts to combine the two genres, such as those by composers of the
Mannheim school.
Johann Christian Bach (the so-called "London Bach" and youngest son of
Johann Sebastian) was publishing ''symphonies concertantes'' in Paris from the early 1770s on, as was
Joseph Bologne, the 'famous Chevalier de Saint-Georges'.
Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...
, who likely heard the early Sinfonia concertantes of Bologne, was also acquainted with the Mannheim school from 1777 and probably aware of J.C. Bach's publications. He put considerable effort into attempts to produce convincing ''sinfonie concertanti''. His most successful are the following:
* ''
Sinfonia Concertante for Violin, Viola and Orchestra K. 364'' (the only one Mozart is actually considered to have finished that exists in an authentic copy).
* ''
Sinfonia Concertante for Oboe, Clarinet, Horn, Bassoon and Orchestra K. 297b'' (known from an arrangement, possibly inauthentic).
Joseph Haydn
Franz Joseph Haydn ( ; ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions ...
also wrote a ''
Sinfonia Concertante for Violin, Cello, Oboe and Bassoon'' during his visit to
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
, as a friendly challenge to his former student
Ignaz Pleyel. He also stayed in London at the time and his works in the genre were highly popular. Haydn also wrote symphonies with long soloist parts, especially early in his career, such as the "Time of Day" symphonies 6–8. These are, however, rightfully considered symphonies rather than sinfonie concertanti.
Other examples from the era are
Kozeluch's Sinfonia Concertante in E flat major for mandolin, trumpet, double-bass, piano,
Gossec's Symphonie Concertante for Violin and Cello in D major and
Gresnick's Symphonie Concertante in B flat major for Clarinet and Bassoon.
Romantic era
Few composers still called their compositions ''sinfonia concertante'' after the classical music era. However, some works such as
Berlioz's ''
Harold en Italie'', for
viola and orchestra approach the genre.
Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...
did not write anything designated as a ''sinfonia concertante'', although some feel his ''
Triple Concerto'' qualifies for inclusion in the genre.
Felix Mendelssohn
Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 18094 November 1847), widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic music, Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositions inc ...
wrote two concertos for two pianos and orchestra: one
in E major and one
in A-flat major, which can both be seen as sinfonie concertanti.
Saint-Saëns'
Symphony No. 3 features an
organ that is partially immersed in the orchestral sound, but also has several distinct solo passages. The second half of this work also features a semi-soloistic part for piano four hands.
By the end of the 19th century, several French composers had started using the sinfonia concertante technique in
symphonic poems, for example, Saint-Saëns uses a violin in ''
Danse macabre
The ''Danse Macabre'' (; ), also called the Dance of Death, is an artistic genre of allegory from the Late Middle Ages on the universality of death.
The ''Danse Macabre'' consists of the dead, or a personification of death, summoning represen ...
'', and
Franck a piano in ''
Les Djinns''.
Richard Strauss's ''
Don Quixote
, the full title being ''The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha'', is a Spanish novel by Miguel de Cervantes. Originally published in two parts in 1605 and 1615, the novel is considered a founding work of Western literature and is of ...
'' (1897) uses several soloists to depict the main characters, namely cello, viola, bass clarinet and tenor tuba.
Lalo's best known work, the ''
Symphonie espagnole'', is in fact a sinfonia concertante for
violin
The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...
and orchestra.
A work in the same vein, but with the piano taking the "concertante" part is
d'Indy's ''
Symphony on a French Mountain Air''.
Brahms's
concerto for violin, cello and orchestra in a minor, Op. 102, the last of his four concertos, is effectively a sinfonia concertante.
Bruch explored the boundaries of the solistic and symphonic genres in the ''
Scottish Fantasy'' (violin soloist), ''
Kol Nidrei'' (
cello
The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...
soloist), and ''
Serenade'' (violin soloist). He also wrote a
concerto for clarinet, viola and orchestra in E minor, and a
concerto for two pianos and orchestra in A-flat minor, which are both equal to a sinfonia concertante.
Ferruccio Busoni
Ferruccio Busoni (1 April 1866 – 27 July 1924) was an Italian composer, pianist, conductor, editor, writer, and teacher. His international career and reputation led him to work closely with many of the leading musicians, artists and literary ...
wrote an enormous
piano concerto in C major, containing five movements, lasting over an hour and even finishing with a male choir, that can be considered a sinfonia concertante.
20th century
In the 20th century, some composers such as
George Enescu,
Darius Milhaud,
Frank Martin,
Edmund Rubbra,
Florent Schmitt,
William Walton and
Malcolm Williamson again used the name ''sinfonia concertante'' for their compositions.
Martin's work, more reminiscent of the classical works with multiple soloists, features a piano, a harpsichord, and a harp.
Karol Szymanowski also composed a sinfonia concertante (for solo piano and orchestra), also known as his Symphony No. 4 "Symphonie-Concertante." Other examples include
Joseph Jongen
Joseph Marie Alphonse Nicolas Jongen (14 December 1873 – 12 July 1953) was a Belgian organist, composer, and music educator.
Biography
Jongen was born in Liège, where his parents had moved from Flanders. He was the elder brother of Léon Jonge ...
's 1926 ''Symphonie Concertante'', Op. 81, with an organ soloist, the ''Sinfonia Concertante'' (Symphony No. 4), for flute, harp and small string orchestra by
Andrzej Panufnik written in 1973, and
Peter Maxwell Davies's ''Sinfonia Concertante'' for
wind quintet, timpani and string orchestra of 1982.
The Czech composer
Bohuslav Martinů wrote two works in this genre: Sinfonia Concertante for Two Orchestras, H. 219 (1932) and Sinfonia Concertante No. 2 in B-flat major for Violin, Cello, Oboe, Bassoon and Orchestra with Piano, H. 322 (1949). In fact, all but one of the composer's symphonies feature a piano, as do most of his orchestral works, but the two afore-mentioned works were the only two in his output which he labelled concertante symphonies.
Wilhelm Furtwängler completed in 1937 his
Symphonic Concerto for Piano and Orchestra in B minor, which lasts over one hour and is one of the longest piano concertos ever written.
Sergei Prokofiev
Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev; alternative transliterations of his name include ''Sergey'' or ''Serge'', and ''Prokofief'', ''Prokofieff'', or ''Prokofyev''. , group=n ( – 5 March 1953) was a Russian composer, pianist, and conductor who l ...
called his work for cello and orchestra
Symphony-Concerto, stressing its serious symphonic character, in contrast to the light character of the Classical period sinfonia concertante.
Benjamin Britten's
Cello Symphony and
Ellen Taaffe Zwilich's Symphony No. 2 also showcase a solo cello within the context of a full-scale symphony.
Peter Schickele as
P. D. Q. Bach
P. D. Q. Bach is a fictional composer created by the American composer and musical satirist Peter Schickele for a five-decade career performing the "discovered" works of the "only forgotten son" of the Bach family. Schickele's music combines Par ...
produced a spoof "Sinfonia Concertante" utilizing lute, balalaika, double reed slide music stand, ocarina, left-handed sewer flute, and bagpipes.
See also
*The
Concerto for Orchestra differs from the sinfonia concertante in that concertos for orchestra have no soloist or group of soloists that remains the same throughout the composition.
*
Concerto for Group and Orchestra, reviving some of the "Sinfonia concertante" characteristics.
Notes
# For example, in the explanatory notes from the booklet to the CD "BEETHOVEN – ''Triple Concerto''/''Choral Fantasia''" (Capriccio Classic Productions No. 180240, 1988).
References
Sources
Encyclopædia Britannica* Collins: ''Encyclopedia of Music'', William Collins Sons & Company Ltd., 1976
{{Authority control
Concertos
Symphonies