The Baroque concerto was an instrumental work that pitted a soloist or group of soloists against a larger group of players. The soloists were called the concertino or soli whereas the larger group were referred to as the ripieno or tutti.
Solo Concerto and Concerto Grosso
The Baroque concerto existed in two variants: solo concerto (often simply called concerto) and concerto grosso. Both forms feature a ripieno or tutti made of strings and basso continuo, but may contain woodwinds and brass in larger ensembles.
The difference between the solo concerto and concerto grosso revolved around the number of soloists used. The solo concerto used a single soloist whereas the concerto grosso featured a group of soloists, called the concertino or soli. The concertino was set apart from the ripieno by their smaller numbers and virtuosic playing. Terraced dynamics—sudden changes from forte to piano—resulted as musical materials were passed between the soli and tutti.
A movement is a self-contained section of a larger musical composition. It sounds complete enough to stand alone but is performed in a sequence of three or four movements. All concertos feature multiple movements of contrasting tempo and character, usually three movements in a fast-slow-fast tempo format.
Ritornello Form
The term ritornello means returning theme in Italian. The outer two movements of the solo concerto and concerto grosso are in ritornello form. Here is a typical organization of the ritornello form:
tutti | soli | tutti | soli | tutti | soli | tutti
The ritornello is the principle theme and is played by the tutti before each soli episode, often in abbreviated form and contrasting keys. In other words, the ritornello behaves like a chorus or refrain, returning with the same theme each time.
The form of the concerto grosso's second movement varies but is usually slow and lyrical, often in ternary or binary form.
Two Sisters | Peter Lyle (1618–1680) | Tate Britain
Brandenburg Concerto No. 3
Johann Sebastian Bach's (1685-1750) Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 is one of the finest examples of the concerto grosso. It is part of a collection of six concerti, written in 1721 for Christian Ludwig, the Margrave of Brandenburg. Bach wrote out the music himself for presentation to the Margrave of Brandenburg rather than employing a copyist. His hand writing is neat at the beginning, but shows fatigue as the pages progress. The original title, written in Italian, is Concerto 3zo a rte Violin, rte Viole, è rte Violoncello col Basso per IL Embalm. Not a catchy name hence the more memorable Brandenburg Concerto moniker used today.
Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 in G Major BWV 1048 (1721) | Bach's autograph manuscript score, page 1 | Bach-Archive Leipzig
Movements
Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 features three movements in a fast-slow-fast tempo format: 1. Allegro, 2. Adagio, 3. Allegro. The outer movements are written out but the second movement consists of a single measure with two chords, a Phrygian half cadence—an incomplete cadence imparting a feeling of instability. It was common to feature improvisation in performances and it is likely Bach desired improvisation at the Phrygian half cadence, albeit not indicated in the score. Thus, some modern performers simply play the two chords and move on to the third movement while others insert a cadenza, i.e., a flashy solo by the harpsichord or violin player.
Scoring
Concerto No. 3 is scored for three violins, three violas, three cellos, bass violin, and basso continuo. This work features a string ensemble, resulting in a blended choir like timbre. The upper strings serve as both concertino (soloists) and ripieno (accompanists), smoothly transitioning between roles throughout the concerto.
Ritornello
The first movement is presented in ritornello form. The energetic and confident sounding ritornello is introduced straight away by the violins but is manipulated and passed between the different instrumental sections as the pieces spins out. Listen to the plainly presented ritornello below so you can easily recognize the ritornello reappearances after soli (concertino) episodes in the main video track:
Ritornello | Brandenburg Concerto No. 3
After the first ritornello (tutti) statement, the soli section ensues and the groups, tutti and soli, alternate back and forth as Bach manipulates the motives and modulates before returning to the final forte ritornello statement at the end.
Brandenburg Concerto No. 3: 1. Allegro | J. S. Bach, 1685-1750 | Voices of Music (6:01)
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