Concerto instrument - a poll

[Szykneij]

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

I am a fellow bass player and I believe the only thing worse than an extended bass solo is a drum solo. Even though solo bass compositions are great for demonstrating the virtuosity of the player, and although they're fun to play, they don't excite me musically as a listener. (We must know our place in the sonic spectrum    )

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)).

Absolutely. Take Rodrigo's guitar concerto, for example. A single note from a classical guitar is about as soft and mellow as you can get, but his orchestration makes the piece work beautifully.


While my favorite compositions are mostly string works (quartets, chamber pieces, string orchestra compositions, etc.), when it comes to concerti, I have to give my vote to the piano. The range and dynamics of the instrument really stand up well against  (and with) the orchestra.

[king ubu]

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.

Maybe you ought to listen to Jimmie Blanton or Charles Mingus some day 

For me, the call would be between violin and piano, tending towards the former, and adding cello as a third. Clarinet, well, that's what I played as a kid, and I still love the instrument - but repertoire-wise, there just doesn't seem to be nearly as much wonderful music for it as I'd wish there was. The Mozart concerto though is otherworldly! (And where did that notion that non-piano-players couldn't memorize music pop up recently? Silly nonsense of course, even amateurish young me managed to memorize the Adagio of the Mozart concerto within a mere few days.)

[PaulR]

Absolutely. Take Rodrigo's guitar concerto, for example. A single note from a classical guitar is about as soft and mellow as you can get, but his orchestration makes the piece work beautifully..

Last year during the New Music Festival at BGSU, we did a double guitar concerto with the full orchestra.....even if with amplification, I could not hear them (in the ensemble).  Don't know how it sounded like in the hall, but it just seemed too heavy for two guitars...

[Fagotterdämmerung]

 
  Well, repertoire is different from favorite concerto instrument. In terms of rep it's easily piano concerto for me, but I'm lukewarm on the combination as a whole, it's just that there is a lot of great music for the combination. Same with the chamber combination poll and string quartets.

  I think one of my favorite things about 20th century music is the diversity of the scored-for instruments in concertos and chamber ensembles ( oddly enough, there seems to have been something of a similar flowering in the late classical / early romantic period, though a bit less pronounced ).