Concertos for more than one instrument (and orchestra)

[Maciek]

Today I've been listening to Krzysztof Meyer's excellent (Double) Chamber Concerto for harp, cello and string orchestra op. 64 (1984). This made me wonder what are the more famous/worthwhile double, triple etc. concertos (do "quadruple" concertos even exist btw??)? I mean especially apart from the obvious (Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms) - though it would be interesting to list those too, just to make sure I haven't missed anything.

Maciek

[Gurn Blanston]

Quad concertos? How about this one:

Vivaldi: Concerto for 3 violins, oboe, viola all'inglese, chalumeau, 2 cellos, harpsichord, strings & continuo in C, RV 555 where the bolded instruments are the concertino and the others are the ritornello. Nor do I think it is a concerto grosso. I guess, in answer to your question, it depends how far you want to go back...

[bhodges]

Not sure how much it's mentioned, but one of my faves is Martinů's Double Concerto for Two String Orchestras, Piano and Timpani (1938).  Very powerful, nervous, relentless, frantic.  I am truly surprised it isn't performed live more often, since the instrumentation isn't all that exotic, and further, anyone who admires Bartók would probably like this.

--Bruce

[Drasko]

Not necessarily too far back.

Martinu rules when it comes to multiple combinations - Double Concerto for Two String Orchestras, Piano and Timpani, Concerto for String Quartet and Orchestra, Concerto for Piano Trio and Orchestra

also

Messiaen - Concert a Quatre (piano, cello, flute, oboe)

Chausson - Concerto for Piano, Violin and String Quartet (sans Orchestra, does that count?)

edit: Bruce beat me to the post  

[Novi]

Berg, Chamber Concerto for piano and violin (and wind orchestra)

[cx]

Berg's Chamber Concerto for Piano and Violin with 13 Wind Instruments.

Martin's Concerto for seven wind instruments, timpani, and strings.

Also, if you like Malcolm Arnold, he wrote a lot of fun concerti, including one for 2 Violins and String Orchestra and another labeled "Concerto for 28 players" (I haven't heard this one).

Can't forget Bartók's and Hindemith's concerti for orchestra, either!

[Nunc Dimittis]

Bax's Concertante for Three Wind Instruments and Orchestra (1948)  The Concertante is in four movements.  The three instruments (cor anglais, clarinet, and horn) each gets its own movement.  They all join together for the fourth movement.   Bax's best piece from the post WWII period.

[m_gigena]

Rozsa's Sinfonia concertante for violin and cello. (I'm not sure if it's a great one, but it is at least entertaining).

Britten's double concerto for violin and viola

And I remember one of the Sitkovetkys was involved in a violin/viola version of Bruch's double.

[not edward]

I think most of the works falling into this category are Baroque or 20th century.

Some good 20th century ones that probably haven't been mentioned:

Carter's Double Concerto for Piano, Harpsichord and Two Chamber Orchestras.
Denisov's Concerto for Two Violas, Harpsichord and Strings.
Kurtag's Double Concerto for Piano, Cello and Chamber Orchestra.
Ligeti's Double Concerto for Flute, Oboe and Chamber Orchestra.
Lutoslawski's Double Concerto for Oboe, Harp and Chamber Orchestra.
Martinu's Concerto for Two Violins and Orchestra and Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra.
Schnittke's six concerti grossi and Concerto for Three.
Schoenberg's Concerto for String Quartet and Orchestra.

[m_gigena]

Czerny - Concerto for piano at four hands (does this one cound as multiple instrument? it invokes two soloists...)
Pixis - Concerto for piano, vioin and string orchestra

Holst - Concerto for two violins

[Scriptavolant]

Can't forget Bartók's and Hindemith's concerti for orchestra, either!

And I'd humbly add Petrassi's Concerti per Orchestra.

[Maciek]

Wow! What an outpour! Thank you, everyone! Keep them coming!

[Guido]

I assume you don't mean concertos for 2 string orchestras or chamber concertos for a group of soloists (as in one to a part all are concertante).

One of my favourites is the double concerto of Kurtag - for cello and piano and two chamber orchestras. Its the second part of the opus number (the first is the ravishing piano concerto ...quasi una fantasia... ). Its a powerful piece, starker than ...quasi una fantasia... but still has moments of great beauty. Not at all a traditional concerto though (not heroic).

I went through a phase of double cello concerto searching. Aside from the justly famous Vivaldi double cello, there are a handful of 20th century works. David Ott's is a neo-romantic traditional concerto - well written, lovely melodies, virtuosic and I think pulitzer prize winning. I have waxed lyrical about Sollima's Violoncelles, Vibrez! which is a single movement concertante work for two cellos and orchestra in a beautiful and highly personal post minimalist style. Lasse Thoresen's Illuminations is a superb 35 minute double cello concerto, the glittering orchestral colurs providing a shimmering backgrounds for the exotic cello parts to shine. Again very beautiful. There's a traditionalish/french sounding (perhaps Faure...?) double concerto by the cellist Tortelier, which is nice enough but not up to the standards of those other works, and another concerto by Kelach Waddle which was Pultzer nominated (but not a winner) which also didn't inspire me greatly. Keuris and Aho both wrote double cello concertos in the 90s both of which I am yet to hear - fingers crossed that the scarily talented Australian twin cellists http://www.twincellists.com/index2.html  Pai-Jee and Pei-Sian Ng manage to get that sorted out. Triple cello concertos are even rarer: to date there are three pieces for this combination, and one hasn't even been premiered yet! The first dates from the 1890s and is a short a beautiful miniature by the great cello virtuoso Popper. Its called a Requiem and shows the cellist at his most expressive. Then there was Penderecki's strangely disappointing concerto grosso of 2001 and later this year Ballada's German concerto for three cellos and orchestra will be premiered n Germany. I'm strangely obsessed by works for three cellos...

Rozsa's Sinfonia concertante for violin and cello is decent piece, but the central theme and variations steal the show. There's a fairly large repertoire of violin/cello concertos from the 20th century, though I haven't sampled much of it.

Tippett's triple concerto (string trio soloists) is an odd one. I think its a very good work, much very good writing, but its somewhat diffiuse and intangible at first...

[Guido]

Oh my goodness, how could I forget that beautiful work: Leighton's Veris Gratia of 1949 which is a Suite for oboe, cello and strings in the best English pastoral tradition. Very Finzi-esque and a remarkable achievament for a 20 year old.

[Mozart]

What exactly is a concerto grosso? Do they stuff the players like its thanksgiving beforehand?

[Guido]

I'm also very keen on the neo romantic/post minimalist/blugrass/fiddling inspired double concerto by Edgar Meyer (the famous Double Nass virtuoso) for cello, bass and chamber orchestra. I'm sure that many if not most people here would dismiss it as slushy Americana but I like it! The second movement is Vivaldi inspired, and the third based completely on the third movement of Mozart's Sinfonia concertante with the cello taking the 'role' of the violin and the bass the viola.

[anasazi]

I will be another to nominate Miklós Rózsa's Sinfonia Concertante.  According to Rózsa's biography, it was Piatigorsky who requested it.  But also according to Rózsa, Heifetz and Piatigorsky did not mix well at the first rehearsals (for a recording), both had their own ideas and desire for the limelight.

Or how about Vaughan Williams' two piano concerto?  OK, that's cheating I guess because it was originally written for one piano, but was just a bit too much and VW later revised it for two pianos.

[Bunny]

also of course, bach's great brandenburgs which are like double, triple, quadruple on up to as much as TEN individual soloists participating in the action...

Concerts avec plusieurs instruments...

[val]

Among my favorites, Bach's Concertos for two, three and four harpsichords, the concerto for two violins, Haydn Symphony Concertante, Mozart Concerto for two pianos and the two Symphonies Concertantes, Brahms double concerto, Schumann's Concerto for 4 Horns, Martinu's Double Concerto. Not forgeting Vivaldi with his Concertos for two or more violins in L'Estro Armonico, opus 3.

[quintett op.57]

Simply Shostakovich concerto for piano, trumpet and a string orchestra.