quarta-feira, 17 de março de 2010

A history of the concerto


In the popular imagination, the concerto is a piece of music shaped by the interplay between a virtuoso soloist and an accompanying orchestra. In fact, from its earliest days in the Baroque era, there have been concertos involving just the orchestra or, in the concerto grosso, the orchestra and a small body drawn from its ranks, and there are numerous examples of the solo concerto. As one of music's oldest forms, the concerto has a long and varied history that continues today. Roeder covers this history in detail (including musical examples) and quite accurately, starting with the concerto's origins in sixteenth-century Italy. He considers the form's treatment by music's masters and provides reliable information about lesser and virtually unknown figures who have worked with it. He explains well the interplay between an era's overall musical style and its concertos. Generally well-written, Roeder's effort accurately reflects its subject's protean history and is even up-to-date.

A History of the Concerto
Michael Thomas Roeder