Baroque Concerto Grosso
Definition
An instrumental concerto that features a small group of soloists (concertino) that are pitted against a larger orchestra (ripieno).
Concerto grosso is the earliest type of concerto emerged in the Baroque period.
Two musical genres contributed to the creation of the concerto grosso: (1) polychoral works; (2) trio sonata
One of the earliest concerto grossi were composed by Arcangelo Corelli. Among his most celebrated works are his Concerto grossi, op. 6. His concerto grossi resemble his trio sonatas, with the ripieno sometimes joining in and doubling the concertino group to provide additional contrast with respect to instrumental forces.
Beginning with Giuseppe Torelli and Antonio Vivaldi, the concerto grosso came more and more under the domination of the solo concerto in matters of form and instrumental treatment, following a three-movement plan (fast-slow-fast).
The first and last movements are often in ritornello form.
Listening
J. S. Bach, Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 in D Major (1721)
The set of six concerto grossi was dedicated to the Margrave of Brandenburg, in hope of having some money or favours in return. Each of the concertos was scored for a different and unusual combination of instruments.
This concerto grosso is scored for a concertino group consisting of a flute, a violin, and a harpsichord, together with a ripieno group consisting of a string orchestra (violins, violas, cellos, and double bass) and basso continuo. Given this instrumental setting, the harpsichord in this work performs two functions – as both a soloist and a continuo player.
Bach adopted the formal procedures of Vivaldi, especially in the use of ritornello principle for both the first and third movement. Compared to earlier concerto grossi, Bach's composition requires extraordinary virtuosity from the concertino players, who are given many extended solo passages.
First Movement: Allegro
Tutti (Opening ritornello)
0:08 An energentic opening with an upwawd arpeggio of the tonic triad (each note is repeated once), followed by a downward scale
Solo 1 (flute)
0:26 Begin with an imitation between the flute and violin solo; both instruments play a four-note descending motif; imitation also exists between the right- and left-hand parts of the harpsichord
0:37 The descending motif turns into an ascending line, each note embellished by its lower neighbor in triplets; imitation between the flute and violin solo
Alternation between tutti and solo episodes
0:49 A very short fragment of the ritornello; modulated to the dominant (A major)
0:53 A solo episode that develops one of the motifs from the ritornello (reaching-over motif); this is an example of Fortspinnung (motivic spinning-out) technique of composition
1:11 The rest of the ritornello left off from the previous fragment
1:17 A solo section featuring a chain of suspension
1:36 Ritornello (fragment), modulated to a minor key (B minor)
0:51 A solo section based on the four-note desending motif; harpsichord speeds up its rhythm and plays in 32nd notes
1:18 The reaching-over motif returns
1:35 Ritornello (fragment), back in the home key (D major); cut off before completion
1:41 Solo episode featuring call and response between the flute and violin solo
New theme – Recapitulation (back to D major)
2:47 A new theme appears in the minor key (F# minor)
3:09 An extended sequential passage; staccato notes; broken-chord figuration
3:37 Pedal point over the dominant, in anticipation for the turn of the ritornello
3:55 Ritornello (opening fragment), modulated back to the home key
3:58 Solo episode
4:39 Recapitulation of the first solo episode
4:50 Ritornello, cut off before completion; followed by solo episode, based on the reaching-over motif from the second solo episode
5:14 Ritornello (fragment)
5:21 Solo, featuring the fast-running scale in the harpsichord; hocket-like alternation between the flute and violin solo
Harpsichord solo – Final ritornello
5:55 An extended harpsichord solo; descending four-note motif
6:58 Addition of trills to heighten tension and excitement
7:22 Pedal point over the dominant
8:20 Interrupted cadence (deceptive cadence) – the prolonged dominant chord resolves to the submediant instead of the tonic
8:33 Final ritornello
Listening
George Frideric Handel, Concerto Grosso in G major Op. 6, HWV 319 (1739)
Handel published a set of twelve concerto grossi (op. 6) for members of the royal family.
The style of the movements in this set of concerto grossi is extremely varied, including French Overtures, fugues, English, French, and Italian dances, movements almost like operatic arias, and sets of variations.
This concerto is scored with a concertino group (two solo violins and cello) and the ripieno (a string orchestra with two oboes and basso continuo).
First Movement: A tempo guisto
The tutti ritornello and the solo episodes present different motivic materials:
• tutti: dotted rhythym, circling around the tonic triad; majestic and stately
• solo: a walking bass line supporting two upper lines that imitates one another; based on a two-note slurred figuration in quavers
The music darkens in the second half of the movement, with the mode changing from major to minor (the closing passage was taken from the overture to Handel’s opera Imeneo). The bass descends chromatically, ending on a suspensive dominant seventh chord (V6/5), propelling the music toward the next movement.
Second Movement: Allegro
This movement is an expanded version of a trio sonata. The two violins and cello in the concertino take the roles of the three instrumental parts in a trio sonata. The rest of the orchestra joins in, doubling the three instruments at certain passages to add textual contrast in the style of a concerto.
Only in bars 25–27 and bars 48–50 do the concertino and the ripieno alternate with one another, jottling the motivic materials between the two groups.
The eighth-note regular bass-line motion, performed by the cellos, is often commonly the walking bass.
Third Movement: Adagio
This movement is also modelled after a typical Baroque trio sonata. The two violins imitate one another at an interval of one bar. The rest of the orchestra punctuates the concertino melody either by doubling their lines or by providing harmonic support.
An interrupted cadence appears in bar 38, when the movement is about to close in E minor. This cadential failure diverts the key back to the home key of G major in preparation for the next movement.
Fourth Movement: Allegro
This movement is a fugue in three voices. The first violin solo announces a four-bar subject, followed by the answer from the second violin solo in bar 5, transposed down a fourth to the dominant. Then the bass enters with the entire orchestra joining in (tutti).
Fifth Movement: Allegro
The last movement is a gigue, set in the duple compound meter of 6/8. Instead of modelled after the ritornello principle, this movement features quick alternation between tutti and solo in short fragments.
Like a typical dance movement, the movement is in binary form (A A B B), with each half repeated once.