Favorite concertos that are NOT for piano, violin, or cello

[Donaldopato]

Bartok Viola Concerto
Vaughn Williams Tuba Concerto
R Strauss Horn Concerti
R Strauss Oboe Concerto
George Walker Trombone Concerto
Haydn Trumpet Concerto

Those first come to mind.

[DavidRoss]

Strauss & RVW Oboe
Rautavaara & Alwyn Harp
Rautavaara Bass
Ponce, Rodrigo, Villa Lobos Guitar
Nielsen Flute
Dahl Saxophone

More no doubt but I must go posthaste!

[some guy]

The Carter double concerto has long been a favorite of mine, too. One of my favorite Carters, for sure, and one of my favorites just generally. It's a delightful piece. So there're at least two of us!

And I've been wondering if the op would consider Cage's concerto for prepared piano to be a legitimate offering. The prepared piano being less a piano than a percussion ensemble controlled from a piano keyboard. Well, whatever, it's a sweet piece.

AND and, I'm wondering if anyone has had their curiousity piqued by James' list. Those are some very enchanting and delightful pieces, too. Good times!

[Donaldopato]

Malcolm Arnold wrote a Harmonica Concerto as did Milhaud and Villa Lobos. Vagn Holmboe wrote a Recorder Concerto.

One of the oddest? In my opinion it's Gliere's Concerto for Coloratura Soprano and Orchestra.

[mnmleung]

and there are plenty of fine Clarinet Concertos around.

I love Copland's clarinet concerto

[jbuck919]

The Carter double concerto has long been a favorite of mine, too. One of my favorite Carters, for sure, and one of my favorites just generally. It's a delightful piece. So there're at least two of us!

And I've been wondering if the op would consider Cage's concerto for prepared piano to be a legitimate offering. The prepared piano being less a piano than a percussion ensemble controlled from a piano keyboard. Well, whatever, it's a sweet piece.

AND and, I'm wondering if anyone has had their curiousity piqued by James' list. Those are some very enchanting and delightful pieces, too. Good times!

I managed to miss a lot of this thread. "Curiosity piqued" is exactly the way I would put it. (In truth I'm ashamed that I don't know at least a couple of those pieces. In particular I've enjoyed some of Ligeti.)

[MarkC]

Vaughan Williams' Tuba Concerto

Cool!!! I was going to mention that if you didn't.

[MarkC]

......Vaughan Williams Tuba Concerto.....

You too, eh? Cool!
BTW......I'm not a "tubist" or anything but I love out-of-the-way combos.

[Lance]

Mark Cannon, we're glad you made it here and hope you enjoy your visits. We look forward to your participation.

[MarkC]

One of my all-time faves is right there on that album that you posted:
Boieldieu's Harp Concerto

I can characterize it best as a cross between Mozart and Chopin.
The last movement especially is dear and memorable. It begins just after 4:00 on here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wfgPG1SK6E

[MarkC]

How about P.D.Q. Bach's concerto for Horn and Hardart
(an obsolete instrument)?

HA!!!!!
Truly one of my favorites.
In fact (and this is true!).....I've started "collecting" stray things to build a hardart, in due course.

I've been to a couple dozen of PDQ's concerts and a couple of times I lobbied him to re-do the piece. He explained that the one-and-only extant hardart somehow got DESTROYED (!!!!) and so they couldn't do the piece if they wanted to.

I'm planning to see what I can do about that.

P.S. Beneath its lunacy, IMO this piece is truly excellent music.

[MarkC]

How about P.D.Q. Bach's concerto for Horn and Hardart
(an obsolete instrument)?

great piece!! a true masterwork!!

+1

[MarkC]

.....Frank Martin - Concerto a' 7 [Seven wind instr/perc] and Strings...

Nice to see Martin on here. A friend played a set of his piano pieces and I loved it.

BTW......maybe we ought to mention -- that's "mar-TAN."
Do a lot of people know about him? I sure wouldn't have if not for that piano set.

[MarkC]

How about P.D.Q. Bach's concerto for Horn and Hardart
(an obsolete instrument)?

Yes, but there's an arrangement for counter tenor.

I think that would be bargain counter tenor.

[MarkC]

.....Walton: Viola Concerto (Kennedy/ Previn)

In case this "viola joke" hasn't been said on here for a while (or ever)........

Q: What's the best recording of Walton's Viola Concerto?
A: Music Minus One

[MarkC]

....Vaughn Williams Tuba Concerto

I'm thrilled about all the mentions this "unknown" piece is getting. I guess it's not as unknown as I thought.

[MarkC]

Mark Cannon, we're glad you made it here and hope you enjoy your visits. We look forward to your participation.

Thanks for the welcome!
I didn't expect anything like that.

And please pardon my thousands of posts on this thread.....just getting my feet wet here.

[MarkC]

I am shocked and amazed that no one in the first 12 posts in this thread mentioned the Haydn Trumpet Concerto. There's one by Hummel, too.

I am shocked and amazed that Ralph has not posted a note as yet about Dittersdorf's very fine Harp Concerto.

Hey Ric -- do you know about Boieldieu's? (several posts above this one)
It's a beauty.

[MarkC]

Let's give some love to concertos for some of the "other" instruments.
What do you like?

Great thread -- and terrific collection of replies.

Assuming that "Sinfonia Concertante" counts (and why not, it's basically a concerto for multiple instruments)......

Everybody knows about Mozart's famous one for violin & viola (K. 364), but fewer know of the Sinfonia Concertante for winds, K. 297b

It's a remarkable piece whose authenticity has been questioned and which was long suspected by many to be spurious. More recently, Robert Levin has done an extensive study and sort of a reconstruction of the piece. He concluded that the surviving score of the piece was itself a reconstruction, with some aspects being most likely original by Mozart but others being a mediocre revision that was done for a changed group of instruments and for players who weren't very technically skilled. His own revised version attempts to be more like what Mozart's original might have been. It's quite brilliant, and he wrote a full-length book detailing his work. ("Who Wrote the Mozart 4-Wind Concertante?) He even has a fascinating "sleuthing" chapter on who exactly might have been the one who did the prior reconstruction.

Levin's reconstructed version has been performed many times and has been recorded:

[Chalkperson]

Welcome to our little virtual village, Mark, please post as often as you can, and ask questions, we love answering questions...

[Jared]

Welcome to our little virtual village, Mark, please post as often as you can...

oh, I think he is doing...

welcome, Mark...

[MarkC]

Welcome to our little virtual village, Mark

Thank you!!!!!

...... please post as often as you can......

You may regret that.

.........and ask questions.......

But not dumb ones, right?

..... we love answering questions...

Me2, including when I have no idea.

[MarkC]

oh, I think he is doing...

'fraid so

welcome, Mark...

Thanks!!

[Ricordanza]

Mark Cannon, we're glad you made it here and hope you enjoy your visits. We look forward to your participation.

Thanks for the welcome!
I didn't expect anything like that.

And please pardon my thousands of posts on this thread.....just getting my feet wet here.

Mark, as the person who invited you here, I'm also glad to see you finally arrived...and with a bang: 28 posts! However, the one thread you missed was Introducing Yourself. As the subject line suggests, it's an opportunity for new members to introduce themselves to the rest of us.

[MarkC]

.....the one thread you missed was Introducing Yourself. As the subject line suggests, it's an opportunity for new members to introduce themselves to the rest of us.

Yes -- ChrisX just got me there and I posted on it. (He was also kind enough to put a comment on my video, and mentioned that he had gotten there from here. I was then more than glad to give an additional plug to this site on the YouTube page.)

BTW.....On that thread I re-told the story of how I got to CMG. I might be re-telling it a few more times too.

[ContrapunctusIX]

Rodrigo: Concierto de Aranjuez
Mozart: Clarinet Concerto, Horn Concertos, Oboe Concerto, Flute Concertos
Vaughan-Williams: Oboe Concerto

I'd additionally pick some of the reconstructed Bach oboe/oboe d'amour concertos, and all of his harpsichord concertos, if those count...not to mention Brandenburg #4...but since the Baroque notion of "concerto" is not quite the same as what it eventually became by the time of Haydn/Mozart, I'm hesitant.

[Jack Kelso]

WOW, there are sooo many---but chronologically I would say:

Bach's Second Brandenburg, Haydn's wonderful Trumpet Concerto in E-Flat, Mozart's Third Horn Concerto (E-Flat), his Concerto for Flute and Harp and, of course, his great Clarinet Concerto. There's a wonderful oboe concerto by Weber's contemporary, Karl Neuner.

Then there's the Schumann Konzertstück für 4 Hörner und Orchester (hearing this front-row live is quite an experience!), both horn concerti by R. Strauss, and a chunk of numerous modern concerti.

Tschüß,
Jack

[James]

Luciano Berio

• -Solo for trombone & orchestra

Iannis Xenakis

• -Troorkh for trombone & 89 musicians