Download Instrumentation in Baroque solo instrumental concerto from the late

Instrumentation in Baroque solo instrumental concerto
from the late 17c to the 1st half of the 18c. (One per part orchestra?)
Seojin Kim
Student number: C012101
Baroque Violin
November 15, 2013
Main Teacher: Enrico Gatti
Research Coach: Johannes Boer
Chosen Format: Research Report
INDEX
Introduction.
Chapter I
Origins and definition of concerto.
Chapter II
Instrumentation in Concertos - Analysis of Sources.
2.1 Italy.
2.2 Germany.
2.3 Netherlands and France.
2.4 England.
Conclusion
Introduction
As historically informed musicians, we rarely stop to wonder what music really sounded like.
Through an influx of information and much research, we have come to an agreement on a series of
rules and we are able to make decisions on what is “good” and “bad”. However it is so easy to fall
into a hole in our knowledge. After all, we can not hear the music from the past performed by our
predecessors; all our knowledge comes from written sources such as scores, treatises and
iconographies that only give us a written idea of what music must have sounded like. To complicate
the situation even more, the interpretation of music is in the hands of our current generation . We
populate a very different world. Post-industrial environment of modern society are very different
from the hierarchical reality of earlier ages. It can well be that what we think is historically correct
could be remote from the “original” way. Our habit of standardizing everything for the sake of an
uncomplicated life leads to many oversimplifications - 415Hz pitch, Valotti temperament, chest
organs, trumpets with holes to name a few. Another example would be the subject of my research:
the size and make-up of ensembles in instrumental concertos, more specifically instrumentation in
Baroque solo concertos from the late seventeenth century to the first half of the eighteenth century.
As a violin player, I've taken part in many performances of concertos; as a soloist, an orchestra
leader, or an orchestra member. It became clear to me that we often face interpretation problems
when we use the wrong set-up. Bigger orchestras are usually less flexible, a soloist cannot always
afford to play with a very sensible, refined tone as they would get buried in the tutti sound of the
orchestra. The 1767 review of J. G. Müthel harpsichord concertos by Leipzig writer J. A. Hiller
states that the solo part could also be played on clavichord. It is hard to imagine that this soft
instrument would get through the orchestra even with single strings but bigger set up would
definitely not work1. On the other hand, how far should we go following the scoring that composers
intended? It's possible that we are still influenced by mid-twentieth century recording, whereby the
whole apparatus of modern symphony orchestras is engaged to perform Vivaldi or Bach. Using a
smaller orchestra may seem to take away the grand effect and reduce the desired tension –
competition between the soloist and tutti section. Today's venues are more diverse and some are
often very different from the past. Most secular performance venues are usually designed for
modern instruments with their piercing sound and larger resonance. Do we only play in a court or
church with the 'original' set up? If we have no choice for the venue, do we try to compensate the
ensemble by adding more players to an ensemble? We go into such a detail about how ornaments
should be played but we often forget about instrumentation. The motivation for my research topic
came from the performances I have done with groups whose set-ups did not seem to work for the
1 R.Rapp, Johann Gottfried Müthels Konzerte für Tasteninstrument und Streicher, München-Salzburg, 1992, p. 85.
repertoire. I started to ask around. Firstly Peter Van Heyghen quickly presented me with an idea that
concertos around the late seventeenth century were often played with single players and with cello
as an only stringed bass. After that, I became and more curious about the whole set up of baroque
instrumental concertos. Did a composer indicate in any way how many musicians he wanted? If not,
how would we go about discovering the composer's intention. Maybe it varied according to
occasions and venues? Or there wasn't enough funding to hire a larger orchestra? If upper strings
are one-to-a-part, which chordal instruments would play? Would there be more than one? Is it
appropriate to add a double bass if not explicitly specified? I started to look for more information
from everywhere - Grove Music Online, journals, internet, books, and prefaces of well known
concertos. Preface in Avison's Op.3 was quite inspiring for me:
The First material Circumstance which ought to be considered in the Performance of this kind of
Composition, is the Number and Quality of those Instruments that may give the best Effect 2.
Chapter 1. Origins and definition of Concerto
At the root of the genre of concerto stand ancient and medieval antiphonal and responsorial
practices. They belong to a fundament of a human nature as social beings: dialog, competition,
leadership, and conflict. Different ways to apply the idea of a concert often reflects the environment
of composers' and consumers' of music in a given period. The etymology of the concert - from the
Italian concerto heads towards the Latin and Italian verb concertare, first translated as "to compete",
"to discuss", and "to debate" and the second as “to agree”, “to arrange”, and “to meet” 3.
The first sixteenth century concertos for two or more choirs referred more to the meaning of the
Italian verb. However, in the beginning of the seventeenth century, a German theorist Praetorius
(Syntagma musicum, III, 1618) defines the term with more reference to the Latin, “to fight”, and “to
compete”. He seems to have regarded 'concerto' or 'concert' as the normal term for a sacred piece
for voices and accompanying instruments 4. In Italy itself, secular vocal 'concerti' continued to
appear occasionally. The first publication that used the word in the title was Concerto di Andrea, et
di Gio Gabrieli. Published in 1587 in Venice, it contains sacred compositions for 6 to 16 parts in
which the voices and instruments are often put together in a dialogue or in a competition. Essential
to this popular art at the turn of the century was the spatial location of the choirs, often distant from
each other, on separate galleries in churches 5. In subsequent decades, Fattorini's (Sacri concerti a
2 Charles Avison, Preface to Six Concertos in Seven Parts, Op. 3, 1751.
3 A. Hutchings, Concerto [in] Grove Music Online, Oxford Music Online, Oxford University Press,
http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/40737,, access date 10/10/2013, 12:13pm.
4 Syntagma musicum (Wittenberg, 1614/15 and Wolfenbuttel, 1619, repr. Kasse; etc., 1958-78), iii, passim.
5 Built in the period temples often have at least two galleries designed for musicians.
due voci, 1600) and Viadana's (Cento concerti Ecclesiastici, 1602) published collections where
'concerti' refers to a sacred chamber music with a basso continuo group. Italian concerto movement
also became popular in Germanic countries by Praetorius. Heinrich Schütz's Kleine Geistliche
Concerte and Symphoniae Sacrae for voices and instruments are very important achievements in
the first half of the century for combining Italian and German styles in this field. In the following
decades, the role of the vocal concert began to take on aspects of cantata with separate arias,
recitatives, and sometimes choirs and chorales. In the last third of the seventeenth century, however,
some instrumental pieces began to appear in print under the title 'concerto'. Composers of such
compositions include Giovanni Bononcini, Torelli, and Mossi. However, it is very interesting to
note that in Torelli's Sinfonia a tre e concerti a quattro, Op. 5, 'concerto' does not contain any solo
passages at all, even though Quantz identifies him as an inventor of 'concerto'. Clearly, the
definition of the term 'concerto' was still a bit muddled. In the south of Italy, especially in Rome,
developed a new genre; concerto grosso. Its core group consisted of two solo violins, cello and
continuo like a trio sonata set up. Same instruments and also new instruments such as viola and
double bass were added as 'ripieno' resembling modern orchestra. Then we consider Corelli, the
most important figure in the development of concerto grosso. His Op. 6 concerti grossi becomes a
model for other composers6. Many composers such as Handel, Geminiani, and Locatelli followed
the concerto grosso form after Corelli. Several of the Brandenburg Concertos by Bach also loosely
follow the concerto grosso form which are written for two violins, viola, and basso continuo,
usually performed by a cello, violone and keyboard instrument. From the start, the style and form of
the concerto accommodated differences of status (between salaried and hired players) and ability
(between advanced players and amateur players) among the members of the orchestra, breaking
with the more egalitarian tradition of the sonata 7. The most important figure for the baroque solo
concerto is Antonio Vivaldi, who developed the genre by fully employing the ritonello form and
introducing galant style which carries on to the classical era. His collections of concertos have
become a model for the whole of Europe and its features became part of the universal language of
the solo instrumental concerto. All of his published concertos were suited to performance in many
different locales, including churches, theaters, banqueting rooms, concert halls and music societies.
Their appropriateness for so many functional contexts – sacred or secular, ceremonial or
recreational, public or private – lay behind their immense popularity 8. Vast range of venue, and
audience is reflected not only in the style of the works themselves but also in the make-up of the
6 Although the collection was published in print only in 1714 in Amsterdam, it had circulated in manuscript from
much earlier. While in Rome in 1680, Georg Muffat meets a new genre, and his sonatas from Armonico Tributo are
influenced by the style of Corelli.
7 A. Hutchings, Concerto [in] Grove Music Online, Oxford Music Online, Oxford University Press,
http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/40737,, access date 10/10/2013, 12:30pm.
8 A. Hutchings, Concerto [in] Grove Music Online, Oxford Music Online, Oxford University Press,
http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/40737,, access date 10/10/2013, 12:53pm.
concerto ensemble. Many of baroque solo instrumental concertos call for a minimal accompaniment
of two violins and bass. On the other hand, late Mozart concertos are scored for a full
accompaniment of strings and wind. It is difficult to say if concertos were performed more
frequently by their composers or by other musicians. Most concertos distributed in northern Europe
were available in printed editions which may mean that they were frequently performed by other
musicians then the composer. But in Germany and Austria, circulation in manuscript copies was
more usual and we can safely assume that it was composers themselves performing most of the
time. Concerto for one solo instrument and string orchestra (the common 20th century perception of
concerto), became dominant after 1710. Violin originally was the choice of the solo instrument and
it remained that way all the way through the classical era. But soon, composers began to write for
other instruments; Cello, oboe, transverse flute, and harpsichord.
Chapter 2. Instrumentation in Concertos - Analysis of Sources:
2.1 Italy
With Torelli, Corelli, and Vivaldi, Italy seems to have been the trendsetter of the 'concerto'
movement and blossomed the genre to its fullest potential. For being such a popular genre at the
time, we do not find one collective source where it tells us of the number of musicians that are
required. However we do have a composer such as Marcello who writes in his preface an exact
proportion of musicians to make his intention be fully recognized:
“Questi Concerti sono disposti in maniera tale, che possono essequirsi in ogni Academica. Per fare
il loro intiero effetto, richiedono due Oboe, ò Traversiere; sei Violini; due Violette; due Violoncelle;
un Cembalo; un Violone, et un Fagotto, ò Bassone . . . Benche questi Concerti richiedono tutti li
sudetti Quindeci Stromenti per fare l'intiero effetto secondo l'Idea dell' Autore; non ostante per
maggior facilita (benche con minor riuscita) so possono essequire senza li Oboe, ò Traversiere con
soli sei Violino, et anco con quattro almeno, come pure con un Solo Violoncello Principale, quando
non vi fossere le Violette, nè il secondo Violincello, è cosi viceversa a misura delli Stromenti che
fossero nell' Academia.”
[These concertos are arranged in such a way that they can be performed at any musical concert. To
make their full effect, they need two oboes or transverse flutes, six violins, two violas, two cells,
one harpsichord, one violone and one bassoon . . . Although these concertos need all the above
fifteen instruments to make the full effect intended by the composer, one can nevertheless play them
more readily (though less impressively) without the oboes or flutes, with just six violins, or even
with a minimum of four, as well as just one principal cello, of you have no violas or second cello,
and so on in proportion according to the number of instruments there may be at the concert] 9.
Having to write such a clear number indications suggests that it was common to use single strings
for ripieno parts in nearly all Italian concertos from the second quarter of the eighteenth century.
Other than Marcello, there is another exception where composer intends to use more than one
player to a part: Tartini's Op.2 and his later unpublished concertos, where the solo sections are still
accompanied by single strings but extra ripieno parts are provided for those who play only in the
tuttis. You can see that ripienists are certainly required. Separate parts are provided for them even
though the 'obligato' parts have enough Solo and Tutti markings to make ripieno parts redundant if
the ripienists shared those parts and took the markings as instructions. As we can see, the number of
part-books can be primarily reliable source in determining the essential number of performers. We
do need to be careful since most non-Roman concertos have three violin parts, but the naming of the
parts varies from composer to composer and the solo part is often called simply 'Violino Primo'
rather than 'Violino Principale' or the like. Another interesting theory would be that the parts may
have been shared. According to M. Canale Degrassi10 many of Tartini's concertos were written for
performances during Mass. In 1733, about the time Tartini Op.2 was published, the basilica
employed sixteen string players: 8 violinist, 4 violists, 2 cellists and 2 'violone' players. Several sets
of manuscript parts for Tartini concertos seems to have parts for 'Violino Principale' [Violino Primo
Obbligato], 'Violino Viola Ripieno', 'Violino 2do Obbligato', 'Violino Secondo Ripieno', 'Alto Viola
Obbligata', 'Viola Ripiena', 'Violoncello obligato' and 'Contrabasso Ripieno'. 11 If each accompanying
part were shared this would exactly account for the sixteen strings, plus Tartini himself as a soloist.
But did they really adopt a part sharing practice which was very unusual at that time? It is hard to
know for certain. For the basso continuo section, we find that in some sets there is only one bass
part, called 'Organo' or 'Cembalo' and it is quite possible that no other basso continuo instruments
are expected. However, there are cases that require Violoncello or Contrabass. For example, there is
an indication for 'Contrabasso' part in some of the Tartini's manuscript sets. There lays another
question where when indicated 'organo' does it mean just organ or could it mean harpsichord? In
one of Le Cène's publications, Albinoni's No.1 exhibits a perplexing situation. At bar 8 of the first
movement of the opening motif is repeated piano and the 'Organo' parts have Cimbalo Senza
Contrabasso. At bar 15, this is cancelled by tutti while the other parts have For. A part titled
'Organo' may be intended for harpsichord. This means that when encountered a title 'Organo' we
9 Richard Maunder, The Scoring of Baroque Concertos, The Boydell Press, Woodbridge, 2004, p.160... Hutchings
remarks(p. 167) that Marcello 'seems deliberately to have avoided imitation of any models by other composers.'
10 M. Canale Degrassi, 'Destinzione e aspetti esecutivi dei Concerti per Violini de Giuseppe Tartini', in A.Dunning(ed.),
Intorno a Locatelli (Lucca, 1995), i, pp. 151-73.
11 Biblioteca Antoniana, call-mark 1902.D.VII, No. 45.
should not take the literal meaning of it but rather interpret it as a general keyboard instrument. On
occasion, there are cases where harpsichord is specified as the bass instrument - Vivaldi's
manuscript La Cetra set and Tartini's Op. 2.
2.2 Germany
In Germany there is a famous King who was a music enthusiast; Frederick II. Known as Frederick
the Great, he was the eldest surviving son of Frederick William I and Sophia Dorothea of Hanover.
Born in Berlin in 1712, Frederick demonstrated an early interest and talent in music and French
literature but this created a conflict with his father. The “barracks King” did not appreciate the
artistic learnings of his son. His musical pursuits were accomplished with the aid of his mother and
against the wishes of his father, who disapprovingly called his son “a flutist and a poet.” 12 Despite
his father's disapproval, musicians benefited greatly from his contribution and dedication to music
even until now. He studied flute with Quantz and he maintained evening concerts at his residence,
Sans-Souci, near Potsdam. The soloists were always Quantz and the King. Usually the performing
group was comprised of eight or nine musicians, including the soloist, a keyboard player, a string
quartet, double bass, and bassoonist13. There is a written recording of one of the events:
“A Potsdam le concert journalier se tenait das un cabinet de 24 pieds de diamètre, un peu arrondi
dans les angles, de 16 pieds jusqu'à la corniche . . . Ce concert consistait en un seul premier et un
second violin (rarement le double), une basse de violon, un violoncelle et pour clavecin un
fortepiano de Silbermann, une basse de violon, un violoncelle et pour clavecin un fortepiano de
Silbermann, une flûte ou deux quand le Roi jouait des tros avec Quantz . . . L'on n'entendait dans
ces concerts que des voix ou des flûtes; tous les autres instruments n'étaient là que pour
l'accompanement.”
[At Potsdam the daily concerts took place in a room 24 feet in diameter, a little rounded at the
corners, and 16 feet to the cornice . . . The ensemble consisted of a single first and second violin
(seldom doubled), a basse de violon, a cello, and as keyboard a fortepiano by Silbermann; one flute,
or two when the king played trios with Quantz . . . At these concerts only voices or flutes were
heard; all other instruments were there only for the accompaniment] 14.
This is one of the rare and valuable chances where we can have a little peek of the performance
12 Andrea Kapell Loewy, Frederick the Great: Flutist and Composer (College Music Symphosium, Vol. 30, No. 2, Fall,
1990), p. 117.
13 Ernest Eugene Helm, Music at the Court of Frederick the Great (Norman: Oklahoma University Press, 1960), 120.
14 Memories of General Graf von Chasot (1716-97), who had attended Friedrich's concerts since 1734, quoted by
K.Von Schlozer, General Graf Chasot (2 nd ed., Berlin, 1878), p.227.
practice of that time. Unfortunately, we cannot know for sure what happened outside of the court.
The same concerto in a different venue and occasion may be a completely different story. We are
indebted to Quantz for the information where he recommends solo concertos in the galant taste to
be played one-to-a-part.
“Thus mit einem schwach besetzten Accompagnement bessere Wirkung, als mit einem starken”
[make a better impression with a small accompaniment than with a large one]' 15.
There are lists of musicians who were employed by Frederick the Great and it is highly possible that
most of their concerto works followed the single strings practice. Musicians include; Carl Heinrich
Graun (Kapellmeister), Franz Benda (Concertmeister), Johann Gottlieb Graun, Johann Gottlieb
Janitsch (Contraviolon), and C. P. E. Bach. In the rest of Germany, and even Vienna, the use of
single strings remained standard practice throughout the period. It appears that there are only few
possible exceptions to the rule. In Telemann's Musique de Table (Hamburg 1733), despite the lack
of instructions the composer apparently expected the upper string parts to be shared by two players
in some of the music, including at least one of the three concertos. There are three concertos in
Musique de Table; partageé en Trois Productions, donc chacune contient I Ouverture avec la Suite
à 7 instruments, I Quatuor, I Concert à 7, I Trio, I Solo, I Coclusion à 7, et dont les instruments se
diversifient par tout, published by the composer in 1733. Each concerto was issued in seven partbooks, engraved by Telemann himself and ingeniously arranged to accommodate the wide variety
of instrumentation. Even though Telemann's title 'à 7 instruments', we find occasions that requires a
doubling of the violin part. In the Part 1, Ouverture, Gigue, bars 6-8 of Musique de Table, it is
clearly written for at least two violins for each part 16. He probably intended 2/2/2/1/1 in the
ouvertures. As for concertos, he has three violin parts for the Part 1, and three solo violin parts and a
ripieno called 'Violin grosso' for the Part 2. It seems that Musique de Table meant to be played
complete, in sequence and therefore, doubling the violin parts would make the most sense. Another
important orchestra at the time was Hofkapelle in Dresden. Quantz became a flautist, and he took
Pisendel who was a Konzermeister as his mentor. They formed a close relationship which lasted
until Pisendel's death in 1755. Hofkapelle was played with twelve strings as early as c. 1710 and
after Pisendel became Konzermeister in 1728, this became the standard practice. Performances by
the Dresden Hofkapelle were unlike modern 'orchestral concerts'. They were not open to the public
and was essentially used for private court occasions. Moreover players did not share parts, but each
had his own copy and there was no reduction in numbers during accompaniments to solos.
Sometimes arrangements of popular compositions were made to suit the full resources of the
15 Quantz, Versuch, p. 295.
16 Richard Maunder, The Scoring of Baroque Concertos, The Boydell Press, Woodbridge, 2004, p. 175.
Hofkapelle. For example, parts of a Telemann concerto for two violins(TWV 52;e4) bear the names
of players in the Dresden Hofkapelle. Also, Vivaldi's RV 508, originally for two violins and strings
were accompanied at Dresden by 3/3/2/2/1 plus two oboes and two bassoons. Violin and wind
instrument have been the dominant choice of the solo instrument in concertos for a long time.
However, there was a rise of harpsichord concertos towards the end of the second quarter of the
eighteenth century. C. P. E. Bach has composed about twenty-eight keyboard concertos by 1750
when he was working in Frederick the Great's court. All extant sets of parts, including some copied
by the composer or with his own markings, have one part each for the upper strings; the single bass
part is normally called 'Basso', but sometimes 'Violoncello' instead 17. Presumably, therefore, most of
the concertos are meant to be accompanied by just a string quartet. There is no evidence that a
second continuo instrument was expected. Harpsichord was the standard continuo instrument
everywhere, although Silbermann's new fortepiano was also used for this purpose in Berlin from
about 1745 and it may have been the intended solo instrument in C.P.E Bach's H. 422. The
keyboard part was doubled by a cello even if it was not explicitly specified and 'violone' or
'contraviolon'(double bass) were occasionally used to reinforce the bass-line in the tutti sections. As
a rule, however, the cello was the only stringed bass instrument in concertos played one-to-a-part.
2.3.Netherlands and France.
Locatelli was a leading composer of concertos in Amsterdam but his concert activities are not well
known due to his shyness from the public platform. Printed parts would be the best way to learn his
intentions as in most cases. In Locatelli's parts, he makes clear that Solo markings in violins 1 and 2,
and viola, are to be taken as instructions: each of these parts is headed 'Dove dice Solo, deve sonare
uno Solo'. Therfore, we can infer that there may be more than one player per part: 2/2/2/1/1/. From
time to time there are Senza Cimbalo markings in both 'Violoncello Solo' and 'Basso Ripieno',
which shows that two harpsichords are expected, one to accompany the soloist(s) and the other for
the ripieno. In most of his concertos from Op. 3 and on, doubling seems to be his standard since the
parts are occasionally divisi. However we don't find any evidence that Locatelli expected more than
two to a part. In Amsterdam, since the 1710s, it had been the practice to use the term Organo on the
title-pages of publications, or covers of part-books, as an encompassing term for keyboard
instruments. On the other hand, we find cases where composer indicates the term in a more literal
way. For example, Leclair's Op. 7 violin concerto has bass parts with divisi sections where he
exclusively indicates which line is intended for Violoncello, and which is for Organo. In addition,
some of the bass notes are long and static which are clearly intended to be held.
17 For example there are three sets for H. 405 at Berlin, Staatsbibliothek, call-marks Mus. ms. Bach St. 214, St 496 and
St. 497; the bass part in St. 496 is called 'Basso', but those in St. 214 and St. 497 are called 'Violoncello'.
2.4.England
Corellian concertos were very popular in England in the second quarter of the eighteenth century. It
also influenced many composers such as Geminiani. His first two sets of concertos seemed to have
continued the one-to-a-part tradition into the 1740s, and for solo woodwind concertos, they were
always accompanied by single strings. In his revised edition of Op. 3, there is a movement where
we see Geminiani's intention to reduce parts to single players. In the same stave as the concertino
violins, he also writes the Ripieno parts and often marks R and C to distinguish their lines. There
are no such markings in the original 1732 version. This must mean that at that time, it was
unnecessary to put those markings because it was common to play all parts single. But, what
happened between 1732 and 1740 in England that Geminiani had to make these markings all of a
sudden? It may be when Handel started to use organ concertos in his oratorio performances in about
1735 where they used a relatively large orchestra including doubled woodwind. Handel should be
credited with the next major step in the evolution of the concerto. By including concertos in his
London oratorio performances, he made it possible for the first time for the general public, alerted
by advertisements in the newspapers, to buy ticket for concerts at which such works were played by
orchestras of thirty or more. Handel is also known as an inventor of English keyboard concerto.
Stanley Sadie wrote in 1972:
“Handel was an innovator [...] His biggest creation was the English oratorio; another was the organ
concerto.”18
Handel's use of multiple strings appears to have been followed by Geminiani in at least some of his
concerto arrangements of his own Op. 4 violin sonatas. However, local musical societies could not
normally muster such large numbers at this time and many of them continued to subscribe to single
sets of parts until 1750 and beyond. So doubling ripieno violins might have been a more popular
choice if the players had shared parts, a practice in the 1740s. Arrangement of solo or trio sonatas to
concerto became popular in the mid 1740s. Geminiani's Concerti Grossi a due Violini, due Viole e
Violincello obligato, e due altri Violini, e Basso do Ripieno of 1743, for example, are reworks of
Sonatas 1, 11, 2, 5, 7 and 9 respectably of his Sonate a Violino e Basso, Op. 4, published in 1739.
There is a documented evidence that, unlike his earlier sets, they were on occasion played
'orchestrally'. The Earl of Shaftesbury reported to James Harris in February in 1745 of the pasticcio
opera L'inconstanza delusa that “Geminiani's opera went off I hear most wretchedly.” 19 This
18 S. Sadie: Handel concertos, BBC Music Guides (London, 1972), pp. 20-21.
19 Shaftesbury to James Harris, 12 Feb. 1745, quoted in Burrow and Dunhill, p. 214.
concerto must have been played by the full opera band. Also later in the year, there was an occasion
that was documented where James' brother Thomas played the cello in the ensemble sharing a part
with the principal cellist:
“last night at the Castle I heard Geminiani play 2 of his last solo's turned into concerto's . . . I played
[with Caporale] but left the solo parts to him.” 20
Whatever the size of the ensemble, probably only one viola was expected unless two separate parts
were provided which would be a very rare case. A double bass, reinforcing the ripieno bass line,
was taken for granted form the early 1730s. Solo (or Soli) and Tutti markings were used almost
exclusively as warnings more than instructions to reduce numbers. On the whole it seems that the
harpsichord was the preferred continuo instrument rather than the organ. As a matter of fact, we find
cues for Cembalo and often on the title-page we find the phrase 'with a Thorough Bass for the
Harpsichord'. Few figured bass parts are labelled 'Organo' but it may not intended to be taken
literally. Corbett, for example, calls his part 'Organo o Violoncelo' but says 'Harpsichord' on his
title-page and includes Senza Cembalo and Con Cembalo markings. In seven-part concertos both
the concertino and ripieno bass parts are nearly regarded as essential. Two harpsichord would
probably haven been available at the larger London theaters, and Handel appears to have used both
harpsichord and organ in his oratorio performances; but many title-pages name the harpsichord in
the singular form. In the tuttis of organ concertos the soloist usually has a short score with no
figures, but the bass part is figured as if it calls for harpsichord continuo. In Handel's Op.4 No.4,
there is a Senza Cembalo cue which confirms the use of two harpsichord.
Conclusion
From what I have obtained so far, I can surmise that nearly all Italian concertos from the late 18th
century appear to be intended for single strings. Otherwise, there are sources where the composer
specifically sets numbers of orchestra members. In Dresden, as recommended by Quantz, solo
concertos in the galant taste are played in one-to-a-part. However, Hofkapelle under Pisendel’s
direction had a fairly large orchestra by the standard of the time - 3/3/2/2/1. The rest of Germany
and Vienna seems to have followed the standard practice of single strings with very few exceptions
such as Telemann’s Musique de Table(Hamburg, 1733). As for the stringed bass instrument, cello
was the only instrument in concertos played one-to-a-part. However, in Vienna, violone would be
used to reinforce the bass-line or double bass would be used for flute concertos in some parts of
20 Thomas Harris to James Harris, 24 Oct. 1745, quoted in Burrows and Dunhill, p. 219.
Germany. In England, up until Handel started using both organ concertos and seven-part string
concertos in his oratorio performances, the use of single strings was common. Whatever the size of
the ensemble, it seems that there was rarely more than one viola. Double bass was used frequently.
Harpsichord was a preferred continuo instrument than an organ. We have manuscripts where the
original performance conditions are known and iconographical representations of performances that
very often confirms the one player per part playing. Therefore, we need to think twice before
categorizing baroque concertos as a modern conception of “orchestral music” where usually or
always performed with multiple players in ripieno part. Nonetheless, it would be imprudent to
assume that all baroque concertos were played one-to-a-part, and that performance indications on
the title-pages of printed publications always represent the composer's “intentions”, and should
always be literally followed in order to “correctly” perform the works. Concertos were probably
published with one part-book per voice (with the exception of the bass part, often supplied twice),
on economic and commercial grounds, even those that included the composer’s explicit indication
of a possible orchestral performance. Furthermore, some surviving catalogs of musical societies
include multiple copies of the same printed publication, some libraries contain manuscript copies of
concertos with multiple part-books per voice, and there are literary descriptions of orchestral
performances of concertos spanning a long period from various places in Europe. According to
circumstances, therefore, concertos were certainly performed orchestrally, and it is particularly
remarkable in this respect that not a single instruction has survived from a composer explicitly
advising against, or forbidding, such a practice. It is definitely hard to standardize one-to-a-part
system. Even though there were 'preface' or sort of rules written by different composers, it never
seems to apply like a rule for every concerto around that time. Also we have to question if we want
to really perform exactly as they used to even if the venues and occasions have changed over the
years. And it seems that they were also quite flexible with numbers in orchestra as long as the
balance was good. When I performed a Vivaldi concerto in one-to-a-part without contrabass,
rehearsals were effective and also was easy to put them all together. When I heard the recording
after the concert, I realized that it ended up sounding a little top heavy. If there was a contrabass or a
violone, it may have solved the problem under the condition that they drop out for the second
movement. But is my subjective opinion is in 'good' taste? What if what I consider 'good' sound is
unconsciously pre-conditioned by the twentieth century recordings? I may conclude that in the end,
balancing artistic intensions to resources and performing situations is more important than just
following musicological interpretations. As long as the ensemble is well balanced between treble,
middle, and bass, the number should not affect the performance too much.