Cello concerto

A cello concerto (sometimes called a violoncello concerto) is a concerto for solo cello with orchestra or, very occasionally, smaller groups of instruments.

These pieces have been written since the Baroque era if not earlier. However, unlike the violin, the cello had to face harsh competition from the older, well-established viola da gamba. As a result, few important cello concertos were written before the 19th century - with the notable exceptions of those by Vivaldi, C.P.E. Bach, Haydn and Boccherini. Its full recognition as a solo instrument came during the Romantic era (Schumann, Saint-Saëns, Dvorák). From then on, cello concertos have become more and more frequent. Most post-World War II composers have written at least one, along with the more usual piano and violin concertos.

One special consideration composers must take with the cello (as well as all instruments with a low range) is with the issue of projection. Unlike instruments like the violin, whose high range projects fairly easily above the orchestra, the cello's lower notes can be easily lost when the cello is not playing a solo or near solo. Because of this, composers have had to deliberately pare down the orchestral component of cello concertos while the cello is playing in the lower registers.

Selected list of Cello Concertos

Cello concertos near the center of the "repertoire". The original list of cello concertos has been moved to List of compositions for cello and orchestra.

*Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach
**Cello Concerto in A minor
**Cello Concerto in B-flat major
**Cello Concerto in A major
*Samuel Barber
**Cello Concerto in A minor op. 22 (1945)
*Luigi Boccherini
**Cello Concerto in D major, G. 479
**Cello Concerto in B-Flat Major, G. 482
*Henri Dutilleux
**"Tout un Monde Lointain..." (1970)
*Antonín Dvořák
**Cello Concerto No. 1 in A major, op. posth
**Cello Concerto No. 2 in B minor op. 104 (1894-1895)
*Edward Elgar
**Cello Concerto op. 85 in E minor (1918-1919)
*Joseph Haydn
**Cello Concerto No. 1 in C major
**Cello Concerto No. 2 in D major
**Several others although their authenticity is disputed
*Paul Hindemith
**Cello Concerto in E flat major op. 3 (1916)
**Kammermusik #3 for cello and 10 instruments op. 36/2 (1925)
**Cello Concerto in G (1940)
*Dimitri Kabalevsky
**Cello Concerto No. 1 in G minor op. 49 (1949)
**Cello Concerto No. 2 in C minor op. 77 (1964)
*Aram Khachaturian
**Cello Concerto in E minor (1946)
**Concerto-Rhapsody in D minor (1963)
*Edouard Lalo
**Cello Concerto in D minor (1876)
*György Ligeti
**Cello Concerto (1966)
*Witold Lutosławski
**Cello Concerto (1969-70)
*Krzysztof Penderecki
**Cello Concerto No. 1 (1972)
**Cello Concerto No. 2 (1982)
*Sergei Prokofiev
** Cello Concerto op. 58
** Symphony-Concerto op. 125 (Revision of Op.58)
** Cello Concertino op. 132 in G minor (incomplete) (1952)
*Camille Saint-Saëns
** Cello Concerto No. 1, op. 33 in A minor (1872)
** Cello Concerto No. 2, op. 119 in D minor (1902) ( [http://www.mmguide.musicmatch.com/artist/artist.cgi?ARTISTID=1089026&TMPL=LONG] )
*Robert Schumann
**Cello Concerto op. 129 in A minor (1850)
*Dmitri Shostakovich
**Cello Concerto No. 1, op. 107 in E-flat major (1959)
**Cello Concerto No. 2, op. 126 in G major/minor (1966)
*Giuseppe Tartini
** Cello Concerto in C minor
** Cello Concerto in D major
*Antonio Vivaldi
**Cello Concerto RV 398 in C major
**Cello Concerto RV 400 in C major
**Cello Concerto RV 401 in C major
**Cello Concerto RV 402 in C minor
**Cello Concerto RV 403 in D major
**Cello Concerto RV 404 in D major
**Cello Concerto RV 405 in D minor
**Cello Concerto RV 406 in D minor (related to RV 481)
**Cello Concerto RV 407 in D minor
**Cello Concerto RV 408 in E-flat major
**Cello Concerto RV 410 in F major
**Cello Concerto RV 411 in F major
**Cello Concerto RV 412 in F major
**Cello Concerto RV 413 in G major
**Cello Concerto RV 414 in G major
**Cello Concerto RV 415 in G major
**Cello Concerto RV 416 in G minor
**Cello Concerto RV 417 in G minor
**Cello Concerto RV 418 in A minor
**Cello Concerto RV 419 in A minor
**Cello Concerto RV 420 in A minor
**Cello Concerto RV 421 in A minor
**Cello Concerto RV 422 in A minor
**Cello Concerto RV 423 in B-flat major
**Cello Concerto RV 424 in B minor
**Double Concerto for Cello and Bassoon RV 409 in E minor
**Double Concerto for 2 Cellos RV 531 in G minor
*William Walton
** Cello Concerto (1955-6)

elected list of other concertante works

*Ludwig van Beethoven
**Triple Concerto for Piano, Violin and Cello in C major
*Ernest Bloch
**Schelomo Rhapsodie Hebraïque for violoncelle et grand orchestre
*Johannes Brahms
** Double Concerto in A minor for Violin and Cello Op. 102
*Benjamin Britten
** Cello Symphony (1963)
*Max Bruch
**Kol Nidre
*Antonín Dvořák
**Rondo in G minor opus 94, 1893 [http://dvorak.musicabona.com/~dvorak/123/]
**Silent Woods opus 68, number 5
*Richard Strauss
**Don Quixote
*Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
**Variations on a Rococo Theme

ee also

*Violoncello
*Violoncello sonata
*Bassoon concerto
* Concerto for orchestra
*Flute concerto
* Harpsichord concerto
* List of compositions for cello and orchestra
* Double Concerto for Violin and Cello
* Triple concerto for violin, cello, and piano
* Piano concerto
* Viola concerto
* Violin concerto