Triple concerto

A triple concerto (Italian: Concerto triplo, German: Tripelkonzert) is a concerto with three soloists. Examples include Johann Sebastian Bach's Triple Concerto, BWV 1044, with solo parts for violin, flute and harpsichord, Ludwig van Beethoven's Triple Concerto for violin, cello and piano, and Dmitri Smirnov's Triple Concerto No. 2 for violin, harp and double bass.

History

Baroque Era

See also: Concerto grosso

Arcangelo Corelli's twelve concerti grossi, Op. 6, each of them for a soloist group (concertino) consisting of two violins and cello, were published posthumously in 1714. After that publication, the concerto grosso qualification was used to indicate various types of baroque concertos with multiple soloists. Antonio Vivaldi's L'estro armonico, published in 1711, also contained a number of concertos for two violins and cello, however without concertos for multiple soloists being indicated as concerto grosso in this earlier publication. The difference in Corelli's and Vivaldi's approach towards concertos for multiple soloists, as well in style as regarding the name that was used for them, has been explained as relating to differences in music traditions in Rome (where Corelli lived) and Venice (where Vivaldi lived). This did not prevent that later music historians would often, retro-actively, describe Vivaldi's concertos for multiple instruments as concerti grossi. Whatever the naming and style differences, both Corelli and Vivaldi set two violins and a cello as the standard group of soloists for triple concertos of the first quarter of the 18th century.

Johann Sebastian Bach knew Italian concertos primarily through the Venetian composers, and thus also did not use the concerto grosso qualifier for his concertos for multiple soloists. Nonetheless also his concertos for multiple instruments were retro-actively called concerti grossi. Philipp Spitta, Bach's 19th-century biographer, qualified these extant concertos for three soloists as concerti grossi:[1]

• Fifth Brandenburg Concerto, BWV 1050 (solo parts for violin, flute, harpsichord).[2]
• Fourth Brandenburg Concerto, BWV 1049 (solo parts for violin and two recorders).[2]
• Harpsichord concerto BWV 1057, arranged after BWV 1049, with the solo violin part replaced by harpsichord.[2]
• Triple Concerto, BWV 1044, for the same soloists as the fifth Brandenburg Concerto.[2]
• Two concertos for three harpsichords and string orchestra:[3]
  • No. 1 in D minor (BWV 1063),[3] and,
  • No. 2 in C major (BWV 1064).[3]

Section 53 of the Telemann-Werke-Verzeichnis (TWV) lists 17 concertos for three soloists and orchestra by Georg Philipp Telemann. Most of these concertos are for two identical woodwind instruments, such as flutes or oboes, with a different third instrument such as violin or bassoon. Telemann also wrote triple concertos for three identical instruments and for three different instruments: for instance, his Tafelmusik collections contain a concerto for three violins (TWV 53:F1), and one for flute, violin and cello (TWV 53:A2).[4]

Classical and early Romantic Eras

Later developments

Triple concerto compositions

See also: List of triple concertos for violin, cello, and piano

Reception

References

1. Spitta 1899, III: pp. 142–149.
2. Spitta 1899, III: p. 143.
3. Spitta 1899, III: pp. 146–149.
4. Georg Philipp Telemann: Catalogue TWV – 53: Concerto pour 3 instruments solo avec orchestre at www.musiqueorguequebec.ca

Sources

• Spitta, Philipp (1899). Johann Sebastian Bach: His Work and Influence on the Music of Germany, 1685–1750. I – II – III. Translated by Bell, Clara; Maitland, J. A. Fuller. Novello & Co.