# Concertos in Disguise



## Andrei

As the concerto is my favourite musical format, I am always on the lookout for new (to me) works. Perhaps I can widen the net - and I think it is an interesting exercise anyway - by requesting orchestral works that contain conspicuous solo part. A few that readily spring to mind are:

Falla: Nights in the Gardens of Spain
Rachmaninov: Paganini Rhapsody
Bruch: Scottish Fantasy, Romance for Viola and Orchestra

There must be heaps of others.


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## KenOC

Lots of these out there, usually for violin or piano. A popular one is Schumann's Concertpiece for Four Horns and Orchestra.


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## Weston

Gustav Holst
Invocation for cello & orchestra, Op.19, No. 2


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## QuietGuy

Bernstein Symphony #2 "Age of Anxiety" (prominent piano part)


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## senza sordino

Lalo Symphonie Espanole is a violin concerto in all but name.


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## Alypius

Three of my favorite concertos which lack the name:

*Karol Syzmanowski, Symphony #4 ("Symphonie Concertante")*, op. 60 (1932)
Performance: Louis Lortie (piano) / Edward Gardner / BBC Symphony (Chandos, 2013)










_Composition Description:_


> "As many listeners know, Karol Szymanowski was a brilliant pianist who wrote a large body of works for his instrument, but he also composed a substantial amount of music for orchestra, the stage, and for voice and chamber ensembles. In his Symphony No. 4, he included a substantial role for the piano-intending to play the first performances himself-but ensured that it contained few serious technical challenges since he was in declining health and no longer able to perform difficult music. Thus, while the symphony is a worthwhile composition, it is unlikely to attract many virtuoso pianists, though Artur Rubeinstein played and recorded the piece. Cast in three movements, the last two played without pause, the work opens with a light, exotic theme introduced by the piano. A second subject is vigorous and agitated, bringing on a change of mood, the music darkening and remaining stormy even through the cadenza near the end of this ten-minute panel. The closing pages are mostly angry and seething with tension, quite the opposite of the gentle, lovely opening. The second movement, marked Andante molto sostenuto, is mysterious and dreamy, the flute introducing an ethereal melody against running piano accompaniment. A solo violin soon takes up the theme and gives it a soothing character, a sense of flotation amid the heavens. Tension mounts in the middle section, but peace returns with a return of the flute, now joined in rendering the main theme by the piano. A bridge passage on the piano leads to the stormy finale, marked Allegro non troppo. Beginning with a rhythmic theme in the lower registers of the keyboard, the music has driving zest and color, but may strike some as being more thematically threadbare than it actually is. The latter half of the movement has a Bartokian character in its sense of motoric drive and percussive rhythms, providing a brilliant close to this powerful, 25-minute work."-Robert Cummings (All Music Guide).


*John Adams: Dharma at Big Sur* (2003):
Performance: Tracy Silverman / John Adams / BBC Symphony (Nonesuch, 2006)










_Review:_


> The Dharma at Big Sur is a concerto for electric six-string violin and orchestra in two movements. Its most immediately striking aspect is the violin itself, played here by the performer who originated the work, Tracy Silverman. It encompasses the range of a violin plus a cello, and it's capable of extended dynamic range and of tones that range from the traditional melancholy to rock aggression. The work was composed for the opening of the new Disney Hall in Los Angeles, the acoustically strong new downtown home of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and Adams wrote into it subtle orchestral effects as well, deep layers of sound that emerge only intermittently. Adams dutifully described his piece as an evocation of the mystical, somewhat melancholy awe that the Easterner feels on experiencing Big Sur for the first time, but really there is not much in the music that evokes the oceanside. Instead, Adams draws on the music of California composer Lou Harrison, a major inspiration to all the composers with roots in the minimalist movement and a pioneer in transferring the principles of Asian musical traditions to the Western orchestra. His first movement, "A New Day," is akin to a juiced-up Indian instrumental improvisation, with the orchestra very subtly deployed in order to produce drones, sympathetic vibrations, and a final buildup of intensity. The energetic, jazzy second movement, "Sri Moonshine," is the one with the Indian name, but its consistent textures suggest the work of an American composer, Californian Terry Riley... This is marvelous new music, colorful, spiritual, fun, accessible to anyone, yet full of the lines of connection that hold together and extend a tradition."-James Manheim (All Music Guide). Rating: **** ½ (performance) / ***** (sound).


*Henri Dutilleux: L'arbre des songes ("Tree of Dreams") (1985)*
Performance: Olivier Charlier (violin) / Yan Pascal Tortelier / BBC Symphony (Chandos, 2000)










_Review_:


> The music of Henri Dutilleux (born 1916) manages to be unmistakably "modern" without being the slightest bit doctrinaire or off-putting: Dutilleux's roots go down deeply into the impressionist soil of Claude Debussy, although unlike Debussy, Dutilleux shows an interest in polyphonic complexity rather than in chord-based harmonic color as such... Tortelier gives us Dutilleux's Violin Concerto, "L'arbre des songes" ("The Tree of Dreams" [1985]), in a sequence of uninterrupted movements proper and interludes. This is Dutilleux the mystic, sharing certain penchants with Olivier Messiaen, although never sounding brash or vulgar, as Messiaen sometimes does. "The Tree of Dreams" is music for late-night listening."-Thomas F. Bertonneau (Amazon.com)


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## Guest

I use allmusic a lot to explore works, and, outside of concertante symphonies, it will generally mark all of these as concertos... so I generally don't even think of them as "disguised"


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## SuperTonic

Berlioz's Harold en Italie is often described as a viola concerto in all but name.


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## PetrB

For works of concertante, near-solo concerto with piano, there is a TC thread, the title of which is something like, "Works with piano that aren't a concerto." Sorry, I find the TC search engine woefully inadequate, so unless someone can direct you to that thread, you'll have to hunt for it.

I'm pretty sure I named there the piano concertinos of Honegger, Janáček, Francaix, Joseph Fennimore's delightful _Concerto Piccolo_ for piano and chamber orchestra, Debussy's early _Fantasie_ for piano and orchestra, Poulenc's marvelous _Aubade_ for piano and eighteen instruments, a.o. Too, also listed there are sundry Ballades, and works by other title as fitting the genre you seek.

You're correct, i.e. "There are heaps of others," and for a good part of that heap of piano + , 'not concerti' finding that thread would save a lot of redundancy in this one.

Best regards

P.s. this is by way of an invitation for any TC member who can locate that thread to post that link here


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## Cosmos

Messiaen's "From the Canyons to the Stars..." is an orchestral work that has solos for the piano, horn, xylorimba, and glockenspiel


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## Weston

arcaneholocaust said:


> I use allmusic a lot to explore works, and, outside of concertante symphonies, it will generally mark all of these as concertos... so I generally don't even think of them as "disguised"


On a side note, I don't know about you, but I'm finding allmusic's sudden advertisements blaring over the speakers at random unexpected intervals recently, while I've got a nice quiet Andante flowing, to be quite annoying. I try to remember to turn the volume off, but I always forget.


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## musicrom

If what you're talking about is concertos that don't have "concerto" in their name:
- Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso (Saint-Saens)
- Kol Nidrei (Bruch)
- Poeme (Chausson)
- Meditation from Thais (Massenet)
- Der Schwanendreher (Hindemith, sp.?)


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## KenOC

Might also think about Schubert's Wanderer Fantasy. Makes a pretty good concerto in the Liszt orchestration.


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## Andrei

Thanks guys, there's quite a few here that I have not heard of. Keep 'em coming!


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## TurnaboutVox

PetrB said:


> For works of concertante, near-solo concerto with piano, there is a TC thread, the title of which is something like, "Works with piano that aren't a concerto." Sorry, I find the TC search engine woefully inadequate, so unless someone can direct you to that thread, you'll have to hunt for it.
> 
> P.s. this is by way of an invitation for any TC member who can locate that thread to post that link here


This one, possibly:

http://www.talkclassical.com/15306-recommend-me-good-orchestral-5.html

Off the top of my head:

Bridge - Phantasm - Rhapsody for Piano and Orchestra
Oration (Concerto Elegaico), for 'Cello and Orchestra

Britten - Symphony for Cello and Orchestra, Op. 68

R. Strauss - Don Quixote, Op. 35, for cello, viola and large orchestra


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## Art Rock

A concerto that is meant as a concerto, but given a name by the composer, hardly qualifies. For example, the mentioned Dutilleux or Takemitsu's _November steps_, a concerto for biwa and shakuhachi and orchestra. Especially in recent decades, there are numerous examples of this.


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## GioCar

^^^ a few other examples:

Ivo Malec - Ottava Alta (1995), a concerto for violin and orchestra
Ivo Malec - Arc-en-cello (2003), for cello and orchestra

Interesting and enjoyable pieces I have just listened to, following SilverSurfer's advice in another thread.


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## SilverSurfer

Grazie tante for your mention, GioCar, but, in that case, I forgot to recommend the first one (because I find it less brilliant, at least at first hearings), which is *Ottava bassa*, title who indicates that is a concerto for double bass and orchestra, and that lead Malec to name Ottava alta the one for violin


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## PetrB

Art Rock said:


> A concerto that is meant as a concerto, but given a name by the composer, hardly qualifies. For example, the mentioned Dutilleux or Takemitsu's _November steps_, a concerto for biwa and shakuhachi and orchestra. Especially in recent decades, there are numerous examples of this.


Every work of this nature falls nicely into the definition of a _concertante_ work. Some later academics and public decided to swallow that established common practice Classical and Romantic format of concerto as the only definition, meaning they 'must' have an opening movement in Sonata-allegro form, and that with a double exposition before the solo instrument makes its entrance. As this went by the by, I think composers gave different names to their concertante pieces because they were not in that format, and as you say, the later early 20th century and beyond often finds these works named other than concerto.

"Concertante" quite covers them all, though.


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## Animato

I propose:

"Don Quijote" by Richard Strauss, it is a Cello-Concerto in disguise
fifth Brandenburg Concerto by Johann Sebastian BAch, it is a Cembalo-Concerto in disguise


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## Andrei

Just remembered a good one myself: Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante K.364


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## Richannes Wrahms

Bax got plenty. His 'Saga Fragment' is perhaps the most appealing for those who dislike him. If anyone wants to try it, it lasts about 11'.


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## PetrB

----------------------------------


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## PetrB

Richannes Wrahms said:


> Bax got plenty. His 'Saga Fragment' is perhaps the most appealing for those who dislike him. If anyone wants to try it, it lasts about 11'.


Thanks. Didn't help improve my opinion of Bax one iota, only put yet another nail in the coffin, so to speak


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## Triplets

Weston said:


> On a side note, I don't know about you, but I'm finding allmusic's sudden advertisements blaring over the speakers at random unexpected intervals recently, while I've got a nice quiet Andante flowing, to be quite annoying. I try to remember to turn the volume off, but I always forget.


I prefer Spotify. At $10.00/month it's worth it, because I save at least 3 times that much on impulse purchases. I will switch to Quobuz when it hits the States.


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## PetrB

Morton Feldman:

The Viola in My Life IV, for viola and orchestra




Cello and Orchestra








Piano and Orchestra








Oboe and Orchestra
Flute and Orchestra




Violin and Orchestra




String Quartet and Orchestra


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## GioCar

Sofia Gubaidulina wrote two brilliant concertos "in disguise" for violin and orchestra:

Offertorium (1980)





In Tempus Praesens (2007)


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## drpraetorus

Many recordings of the Rachmaninoff "Vocalise" are for a solo instrument and orchestra. Of these, one of the best is the of these is the Branford Marsalis soprano sax version. 



 However, I must say that I prefer the voice that it was written for.

In the opera Siegfried, Wagner gives the Horn a chance to really show off in the Horn call in the second act. 




Then, of course, there is Sibelius "Swan of Tuonela" for English Horn 




How about "The Trumpet Shall Sound" From "Messiah" by Handel 



 (original instruments. If they are going to play period instruments, they should wear period clothing.) 



 (modern instruments. This is Samuel Ramey. I think it is the Colin Davis, Toronto Orch recording)


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## clavichorder

Richard Strauss-Burleske for piano and orchestra.


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## shed

Martinu - Sinfonietta "La Jolla"





George Perle - Serenade No. 3


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## nightscape

Tchaikovsky's _Variations on a Rococo Theme_


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## Queen of the Nerds

Exactly what I was going to say.


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## JACE

Has anyone mentioned Richard Strauss' "Burleske for Piano & Orchestra"?

I think that would qualify.


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## MoonlightSonata

Do tone poems count? If so, then I shall mention Saint-Saens' _Danse Macabre_ for violin and orchestra. It also often seems to me that Mendelssohn's Octet is practically a mini violin concerto.


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## hpowders

What about pieces like Rachmaninov's Variations on a Theme by Paganini?


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## Chronochromie

What about Ravel's Tzigane?


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## hpowders

^^^A very tough piece.


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## MoonlightSonata

Gubaidulina's Offertorium?
(I probably spelt at least one of those words wrong)


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## techniquest

Just a couple here:
Stravinsky: Symphony in 3 Movements (piano)
RVW: The Lark Ascending (violin)


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