Concerto instrument - a poll

[Wanderer]

My answer would be the piano, which I consider to be the quintessential solo instrument poised to battle against an entire orchestra. I'm very fond of violin and cello concertos as well, but not as much regarding concertos for wind instruments (with many notable exceptions, of course).

[abidoful]

Piano. All other answers show a lack of good musical taste.

gee- thank's alot...

[kishnevi]

This may be of some help--look under C and O.
http://imslp.org/wiki/Category:Scores_featuring_the_oboe
Warning: some of these are transcriptions and arrangements (which is how Chopin's Nocturnes slip in), and many are listed simply because oboes appear on the instrument list.  In addition, it is not necessarily a complete list of everything with oboe that appears on IMSLP

More concentrated but might miss some of the stuff on the other page
http://imslp.org/wiki/List_of_Compositions_Featuring_the_Oboe

And of course the fact that a score can be found on IMSLP does not mean it's been recorded, nor that no others exist which are not on IMSLP.

[abidoful]

Once over the local classical radio station I did hear a concerto by a completely unknown German composer, whose name I can't remember now but who the announcer said was a friend of Robert Schumann, and it was actually a very nice concerto, both a virtuoso piece and fairly substantial musically.  I wouldn't mind working up that one for my own repertoire...

Could it be Hartmann... (just guessing )

[jochanaan]

Could it be Hartmann... (just guessing )

That sounds very possible.  Thanks!

[Conor71]

The Piano is my favourite solo instrument but I enjoy Violin Concertos more than those for the Piano so it gets my vote here. Also really enjoy Cello concertos although I dont own so many of them. 

[Keemun]

Violin.  No contest.   

The Horn!  

Mozart's Horn Concertos are among my favorite Mozart works, which isn't saying much because I don't like most Mozart works.    But still, for me the horn would rank higher than several of the other poll choices.

[abidoful]

Once over the local classical radio station I did hear a concerto by a completely unknown German composer, whose name I can't remember now but who the announcer said was a friend of Robert Schumann, and it was actually a very nice concerto, both a virtuoso piece and fairly substantial musically.  I wouldn't mind working up that one for my own repertoire...

I doubt it was that Hartmann after all; the earlier Hartmann was a Danish national romantic composer, and the other Hartmann was born in 1905 so he hardly knew Robert Schumann....   Unless Ferdinand Hiller wrote an oboe concerto, I think the work you heard on radio must have been written by Ignaz Moscheles, a Bohemian composer also associated to Frederic Chopin and Felix Mendelssohn

[jochanaan]

I doubt it was that Hartmann after all; the earlier Hartmann was a Danish national romantic composer, and the other Hartmann was born in 1905 so he hardly knew Robert Schumann....   Unless Ferdinand Hiller wrote an oboe concerto, I think the work you heard on radio must have been written by Ignaz Moscheles, a Bohemian composer also associated to Frederic Chopin and Felix Mendelssohn

A quick search didn't discover an extant solo oboe concerto by Moscheles, although one for flute and oboe exists...Hmmm...This is a mystery!

[nfi42]

Another vote for clarinet,  so much so that I decided to learn to play the instrument and have neen for 17 years now.

[abidoful]

A quick search didn't discover an extant solo oboe concerto by Moscheles, although one for flute and oboe exists...Hmmm...This is a mystery!

I read about a concerto for oboe by Moscheles from Wikipedia--- maybe there's a mistake? 
So, it has to be
- German (or one who made a career there)
- a friend of Schumann




Anyway, we're running out of composers! ! !     

[Fagotterdämmerung]

  Easily the clarinet, which is odd, as I've never had any urge to play it, and it's about middling in my ranking of favorite orchestral colors.

  Reasons:

  A). It has much greater tonal weight than the violin or cello, which means it can hold its own in loud passages much easier.

  B). Huge range, especially compared to the other woodwind sopranos, the flute and oboe. Great at huge leaps, which sound dramatic in a concerto setting.

  C). Huge dynamic range: can enter inaudibly, and can wail quite loudly in the upper register.

  D). Lots of contrast in the timbre, especially between chalumeau and clarino register.

  E.) Very agile, though perhaps a tiny bit slower than the flute and violin, it's certainly faster than the brass, which tend to be the next stop "up" in orchestral melody-instrument volume.

  F.) Those lengthy glissandos. You know the ones. I realize they're cliché by now, but that doesn't make the effect any less riveting.

[Mirror Image]

The violin, cello, and piano are my favorite solo instruments but there are notable exceptions in all of the instruments listed. If I had to pick one instrument, though, it would be the violin and here I'm just thinking of a few concerti that catapult this instrument into the musical stratosphere: Berg, Bartok's 2nd, Shostakovich's 1st, RVW's The Lark Ascending, Sibelius, Stravinsky, Britten, Walton, Barber, Ligeti, Brahms, etc.

[PaulR]

I see no one has picked the Double Bass

I chose the violin.  Was between that, cello, and piano.

[ibanezmonster]

I picked piano, but I would write one for 8 string electric guitar if I knew it would be performed.

[Fagotterdämmerung]

I see no one has picked the Double Bass.

Ugh! I hate soft-toned instruments forced into a concerto role. I've seen a couple double bass works and one viola concerto that were totally ruined by the frank inaudibility of the instruments against a full orchestra. The soloists were clearly doing their best... just, mostly uselessly in all but the most lightly accompanied sections.

[North Star]

I suppose they're in order here. I do like clarinet concertos a lot, too.
Piano: Mozart, Beethoven, Schumann, Chopin, Liszt, (Alkan ), Brahms, Rakhmaninov, Scriabin, Prokofiev, Ravel, Britten, Bartók, Ligeti, Lutoslawski
Violin: Vivaldi, Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Schumann, Brahms, Sibelius, Prokofiev, Stravinsky, Shostakovich, Barber, Britten, Nielsen, Dutilleux, Ligeti
Cello: Vivaldi, Schumann, Dvorak, Elgar, Prokofiev, Shostakovich, Walton, Dutilleux, Lutoslawski

[PaulR]

Ugh! I hate soft-toned instruments forced into a concerto role. I've seen a couple double bass works and one viola concerto that were totally ruined by the frank inaudibility of the instruments against a full orchestra. The soloists were clearly doing their best... just, mostly uselessly in all but the most lightly accompanied sections.

I said Double Bass mostly as a joke, as I play the instrument.

But the fault in any inaudibility of the DB is not the fault of the musician, but rather, the music itself in the orchestration (mostly fault in post-classical bass concerto.)  That is also not a fault of the instrument, and not being 'forced' in the part.  When it's properly orchestrated, it can work as a concerto instrument (the size and make up of a classical orchestra.  Strings+some winds.  (See: Vanhal) or just against a string orchestra (see: Bottesini)). 

[Lisztianwagner]

Piano/Keyboard for me.

[Fagotterdämmerung]

I said Double Bass mostly as a joke, as I play the instrument.

But the fault in any inaudibility of the DB is not the fault of the musician, but rather, the music itself in the orchestration (mostly fault in post-classical bass concerto.)  That is also not a fault of the instrument, and not being 'forced' in the part.  When it's properly orchestrated, it can work as a concerto instrument (the size and make up of a classical orchestra.  Strings+some winds.  (See: Vanhal) or just against a string orchestra (see: Bottesini)).

There's always the option of amplification, which seems like it might have potential with quieter instruments.