Music Chat: 7 Fabulous New Concerti Grossi

Modern composers took to the baroque concerto grosso medium with a will, composing magnificent works for all kinds of solo groupings opposed to the larger orchestra. Here are seven first-class examples by Bloch, Gould, Ghedini, Orbón, Tamberg, Martinu, and Alwyn, all of which are well worth hearing.
Musical Examples courtesy of Naxos, BIS, and Supraphon Records.

[@MegaVicar]

That Tamberg! How wonderful! Before your videos I’d only heard of him, but have heard Bloch and lots of Martinu. Ghedni really impressed me..this kinda stuff is such a nice surprise. 😀

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

Wonderful!

[@gregoryemery8605]

Thanks for the discoveries. Fun fact, it was Geneva's day on your youtube channel. Indeed Bloch is born in Geneva and Ginestera died there ! I used to walk near his grave, which is in the "cimetière des rois" to go to work.

[@jorgemittelmann620]

Best KZbin music channel ever !! This chapter is such an instructive delight! Ran out of words to thank you for all these wonderful neoclassical recommendations 👏👏👏 The Bloch really blew me away: hunting indeed....

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

Thanks very much!

[@martinhochbaum8936]

Just wanted to wish you a Happy and healthy Shana tova...and just keep listening! :)

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

Thank you. You too!

[@vaclavmiller8032]

I love the Bloch - looking forward to checking out the others (none which I know).

[@Zezahn]

Well, wasn't this one of the best and more explorative videos. So much good stuff in a good ol' format! And I'm happy to see Ghedini appreciated. :-)

[@markkumollari]

Thanks, Dave, what a marvellous idea!

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

Glad you liked it!

[@Cesar_SM]

I really enjoyed this insightful video. I know all of those concerti grossi except the Ghedini and Tamberg (which sounded very promising). I didn't recall how marvelous the Bloch is (it was years since my last listen), that fragment you played impressed me a lot. Lovely and with a certain magical feel to it. It's just incredible how vast classical music world is. Endless entertainment. You can't be tired by that music. Simply you can't.

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

I couldn't agree more. Thanks for viewing!

[@2906nico]

So glad you included the Orbon. It should be much better known. And Martinu's wonderful, uplifting Concerto Grosso. Although not a concerto grosso by name, Tippett's Fantasia Concertante on a Theme of Corelli deserves an honorary mention.

[@michaelhartman8724]

Thanks for the recommendation on the Casella, etc. disk. Indeed, where has this music been all my life? Nice to see there are still record companies that can produce such skillfully orchestrated music in a program that stresses diversity and yet at the same time seems highly coherent and pleasing to the ear. Really great recording of beautiful playing, too.

[@UlfilasNZ]

I agree, the other music is all very interesting to me (especially the Tamberg), but that Bloch just goes straight to the heart!

[@Cesar_SM]

Another concerto grosso that is worth mentioning is the one by Vaughan Williams, the Concerto Grosso for strings. This is not as "fun" as the others, but more spiritual and moving. I love it.

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

No, it isn't. It's not one of his better works, I'm afraid. I left it out on purpose. There are many others, but I picked seven of my favorites. The big CG composer was Schnittke, but that's a topic for its own talk.

[@AlexMadorsky]

David Hurwitz I’m an unabashed and stalwart RVW fan, but his Concerto Grosso doesn’t do much for me. Just not very interesting on any level.

[@fulltongrace7899]

I believe he wrote it for a student orchestra, so not on a par with his other stuff.

[@AlexMadorsky]

Fullton Grace yes, fair point. Apparently it was written for an odd ensemble comprised of three groups of players: novice, intermediate, and advanced. Still, Vaughn Williams wrote it of his own free will and never withdrew his name, so I think it’s fair to evaluate the piece as among his mature output, and similarly fair to compare it to the other concerti grossi Dave reviews above.

[@markmiller3713]

I've not heard of any of these works. This was fascinating.

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

Yay! That was the idea! Have fun exploring.

[@AlexMadorsky]

The great Ernst Bloch being randomly selected is a sign of a sweet new year to come. Shana Tovah!

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

Thank you. Same to you!

[@AlexMadorsky]

@@DavesClassicalGuide just listened to the Tamberg. Marvelous! The scoring, orchestration, and melodies are all masterful.

[@johnmontanari6857]

One more: Alfredo Antonini's Concerto Grosso on W. C. Handy's "St. Louis Blues," performed by Louis Armstrong and His All-Stars with Leonard Bernstein conducting the Stadium SO of NY, on the Sony CD "What Is Jazz" from their "Bernstein Century" series. All right, it's not really comparable to the works on your video. But in the words of the immortal Satchmo himself after the performance, "it gassed me, man, it gassed me!"

[@Don-md6wn]

David, I heard the Orbon Concerto Grosso for string quartet and orchestra for the first time yesterday from a very reasonably priced 6 disc box from Dorian called "Latin America Alive: The Eduardo Mata Sessions" with Mata conducting the Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela. It is a great sampler of works from Latin composers. I saw that you gave a 10/10 review to the disc in the set that includes the Orbon Concerto Grosso plus works from Revueltas and Ginastera. It might be a good subject for a video while the box is still available. More people should know this music.

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

I've already made a video about the Orbon works (the Naxos recording).

[@williamwhittle216]

Wonderful survey. Here are some other works in my collection be these modern composers that might qualify: Ben-Hamite Barber Capricorn Concerto Giannini Holst Fugal Concerto Markevitch Piston Concerto for string quartet & Orchestra Pizzetti Concerto de l’estate Vaughan Williams (mentioned by another subscriber)

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

Well, yes and no. The point was to find works specifically called "Concerto grosso." As you note (and as I pointed out too) there are zillions of others that qualify and which could have been included. Your list is an excellent one.

[@johanfischier4052]

Thanks for a rewarding conversation about these lesser known gems. A concerto grosso that knocked me out 30 years ago and still makes a strong impression is Alfred Scnittke's Concerto grosso no. 1 from the 70's. It was written simultaneously, and with the same set of instruments as Arvo Pärt's Tabula Rasa. Scnittke's concerto grosso is recommended with Kremer / Grindenko at DG. Do not you agree?

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

There are several good versions of it. Schnittke is a topic all his own, because he wrote 6 of the little suckers.

[@barryguerrero7652]

I better get the Tamberg because I also like "Symphonic Dances" type works, as well as "Concerto for Orchestra" ones.

[@davidhickey1182]

Bloch is a long-time favorite of mine every since I cut my teeth on Kubelik's LP of the Concerto Grosso No.1. I hate the Hanson performance. It would be wonderful to hear a Hurwitz assessment of Schelomo and your view of the best recorded performance.

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

Eventually!

[@FCarraro1]

Alwyn's CG seems very enjoyable but I couldn't help bursting out laughing becuase the main motif is identical to the kid song "der Ententanz" which is very popular in Italy (in its italian translation) :D

[@levnekov]

While I don’t expect a glowing opinion, what do you think of Schnittke’s 1st Concerto Grosso? Or Schnittke in general, too, I’m actually kinda curious.

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

You'll have to wait for the video.

[@timrauser8201]

Certainly OT, and I'm not sure if you ha e answered this before elsewhere, but how do you conduct your listening? Speakers, headphones? I think this would make for a really interesting segment! :-)

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

Speakers, mostly, but I honestly don't think it's all that important.