A double concerto (Italian: Doppio concerto; German: Doppelkonzert) is a concerto featuring two performers—as opposed to the usual single performer, in the solo role. The two performers' instruments may be of the same type, as in Bach's Double Violin Concerto, or different, as in Brahms's Concerto for Violin, Cello and Orchestra.

The term can also refer to the use of a double orchestral body where a work is in concerto grosso form; for example, Martinů's Double Concerto for Two String Orchestras, Piano, and Timpani is commonly known by the title "Double Concerto," where the word "double" refers to the two string bodies rather than to the piano and timpani, who are not soloists in the conventional sense.

Triple and quadruple concertos

Concertos with more than two solo parts may be known by the terms "triple concerto", "quadruple concerto", etc., but not usually when the instruments are of the same type (for example, Vivaldi's Concerto for Four Violins in B minor, catalogued as RV 580 and transcribed in A minor for four harpsichords by Bach as BWV 1065).

One common arrangement for a triple concerto is for violin, cello, and piano, as in Beethoven's Triple Concerto for Violin, Cello, Piano and Orchestra.

One of Olivier Messiaen's final works, Concert à quatre, is a quadruple concerto.

List of notable double concertos

For two soloists

For two orchestras

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Jeremy Beck - Concertino for two cellos and string orchestra". Retrieved 5 April 2021.
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