Evolution of Music Genres During the Baroque Era

Classical music consists of several different musical genres. They are symphonies, string quartets, piano sonatas, opera, and the concertos. The goal of this research is to explain what a concerto is, review the most famous concertos and contrast traditional concertos to modern Hip Hop music. First, I will explain the evolution of concerto production. Next the works of Beethoven and Wolfgang Amadeus will be explored as their concerti are considered the best ever composed.

During the late 1750's known as the Late Baroque period the concerto or in the plural form concerti/concertos evolved. The concerto is a musical arrangement that incorporates a full- or large-scale Orchestra. It also involves a solo instrumentalist typically playing a violin, flute or piano. If the violin is the soloist thus it is a Violin concerto. If the piano is the soloist subsequently it is a piano concerto. A concerto is composed of three movements; one fast arrangement followed by a slower middle arrangement ending with a fast finish arrangement. The duration is about 30 minutes. Over the years the characteristics along with the definition of the concertos varied.

One of the most renowned and most famous concertos of all time is Piano Concerto No. 5 in E-flat by Beethoven. The Piano Concerto is also known as the Emperor Concerto, which is said to have some reference to Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte. Composed between 1809 and 1811, it took Beethoven about 4 years to write. It is a well-documented fact that Beethoven was already deaf when he wrote the concerto. http://redlandssymphony.com/writes, 'Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 5 could be considered either the last great concerto in the classical style or, because of its immensely powerful gestures, the first of the great 19th-century romantic concertos.' In this musical piece piano, flutes, oboes, clarinets, bassoons, horns, trumpets, timpani and strings are used. Beethoven's 5th has the raw energy of a Beyoncé concert and the swagger of Jay Z.

Another most famous violin concerto was composed in September of 1775, by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, in Salzburg Germany. At the time Mozart was 19 years old. The composition was the Violin Concerto No. 3 in G major. The instrumentation included Solo violin, two violins, viola, cello, double bass, two horns, two flutes. Seattlesymphony.orgwrote: 'The bright character of the first movement derives from themes that often seem to entail varieties of musical laughter. This remains true even when, in the middle of the movement, the harmonies turn to the darker minor mode' they also write 'While the third begins with a bitter-sweet little arietta over pizzicato accompaniment from the orchestral strings. Quite suddenly, however, Mozart turns to a merry dance-like tune.'

In conclusion, concertos are musical arrangements that incorporate a full- or large-scale orchestra in addition to a solo instrumentalist. Beethoven and Amadeus composed and performed the greatest concertos of all time. In modern times both composers would be as famous as Beyoncé and Jay Z as their music captured audiences all over the world. Today their work can be heard in movies, tv commercials and even cell phone ringtones. The concertos remain a major part of the classical music scene today and is listen to by millions of fans.