In the Classical period Joseph Haydn (1732-1809) wrote a few concertos including two for the cello, but he is better known for his symphonies. It was Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) who wrote many wonderful piano concertos. This was at a time when the piano was a new instrument. Mozart was a brilliant pianist and he wrote most of them for himself to perform. He also wrote five violin concertos, four horn concertos, two flute concertos and a clarinet concerto. He also wrote concertos for more than one soloist e.g. a flute and harp concerto and a violin and viola concerto which he called "Sinfonia Concertante". By this time concertos always had three movements: a fast one (usually in sonata form), a slow one, and a fast movement (often a rondo) to finish with.
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) became famous as a pianist before he was known as a composer. He wrote five piano concertos. The last one, known in English-speaking countries as the "Emperor Concerto", is a very big, powerful work which looks forward to the music of the Romantic period. Beethoven wrote a beautiful violin concerto. At the time everyone thought it was too hard for the soloist to play, but as composers wrote harder and harder music the players had to become better and better. Nowadays every professional violinist should be able to play it. Beethoven also wrote a "Triple Concerto" for piano, violin, cello and orchestra.
The 19th century is known as the age of Romanticism. People adored creative men like artists, musicians and writers (the time for women to be equal had not yet come). They were seen as heroes. The concerto fitted in very well with this way of thinking. The soloist was a great hero, and the concerto enabled him to show off his great technique. The violinist and composer Niccolò Paganini (1782-1840) was one of these great heroes. He played the violin like no one else had ever done, and because he was a thin, skinny man with a pale face and long hair people thought he looked like the devil. He wrote violin concertos which at the time only he could play.
Some of the most famous violin concertos of the 19th and 20th centuries include those by Felix Mendelssohn, Max Bruch (no 1), Johannes Brahms, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Edward Elgar, Dmitri Shostakovich (no 1), Béla Bartók, Alban Berg, Igor Stravinsky and Sir William Walton.
Famous piano concertos after Beethoven’s time include those by Frederic Chopin (2), Robert Schumann, Johannes Brahms (2), Pjotr I. Tchaikovsky (3), Edvard Grieg, Sergei Rachmaninoff (4), Béla Bartók (3), Sergei Prokofiev (5) and Igor Stravinsky.
Famous cello concertos include those by Antonín Dvořák, Edouard Lalo, Edward Elgar and Dmitri Shostakovich. Tchaikovsky wrote a piece for cello and orchestra called "Rococo Variations" and Benjamin Britten wrote a piece for cello and orchestra which he called a “Cello Symphony” because the cello and orchestra are equal in importance. Brahms wrote a "Double Concerto" for violin and cello with orchestra.
There are viola concertos by Paul Hindemith and William Walton, and Hector Berlioz wrote "Harold in Italy" which is like a viola concerto.
Famous concertos for woodwind instruments include two for clarinet by Carl Maria von Weber, clarinet and flute concertos by Carl Nielsen, a clarinet concerto by Aaron Copland, an oboe concerto by Ralph Vaughan Williams.
Richard Strauss wrote two concertos for the French horn. Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov wrote a trombone concerto and Ralph Vaughan Williams wrote a tuba concerto.
Modern composers have written percussion concertos. These are usually pieces for one percussion player playing lots of different percussion instruments, and an orchestra accompanying. James MacMillan wrote a piece for percussion and orchestra called "Veni, Veni Emmanuel".
Joaquin Rodrigo wrote several works for guitar and orchestra including "Concierto de Aranjuez".
Béla Bartók wrote a piece called "Concerto for Orchestra". He gave it this title because, although it is a piece for orchestra (like a symphony), there are lots of solos for the different instruments. Other composer, such as Alan Hovhaness, have also written concertos for orchestra.
Sir Peter Maxwell Davies has written ten concertos, each for a different solo instrument. They are known as the "Strathclyde Concertos".
Concerto grosso
A Concerto Grosso is a piece of music from the 18th century in which there are a small group of instruments and a large group of instruments. These two groups are contrasted with one another. Sometimes both play together, sometimes one plays by itself, or the two groups might imitate one another. The small group is called “concertino” and the large group is called "tutti", “ripieno” or “concerto grosso” (the same name as the musical piece). “Concerto grosso” is Italian for “big concerto”. The plural is “concerti grossi”. Notice that the second “c” in “concerto” is pronounced like an English “ch”.
A concerto grosso has several parts that differ in speed and character. There are usually three movements; the first is fast, the second is slow, and the last is fast. The first movement contrasts the tutti and the soloists, the second movement is quiet, while the last movement is lively.
The composer who made the concerto grosso very popular was the Italian Arcangelo Corelli (1653-1713). The instruments in the small group of soloists in his concerti grossi were usually two violins and one cello. George Frideric Handel (1685-1759) also used that combination for his concerti grossi.
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) wrote a set of six concertos known as the "Brandenburg Concertos". Each of the Brandenburg Concertos is for a different combination of instruments. Most of them are concerti grossi. The second one, for example, has a concertino group of four instruments: trumpet, violin, recorder and oboe.
After the Baroque period, few composers wrote concerti grossi. They were more interested in the solo concerto. However, in the 20th century, some composers, including Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971) and Bela Bartok (1881-1945), wrote pieces of music that are like concerti grossi.
Hyundai Grandeur
The Hyundai Grandeur is an automobile made by Hyundai Motor Company. It was first sold in 1986. In North America the automobile was called Hyundai XG (third generation) and Hyundai Azera (fourth generation).
The first Grandeur of 1986 was developed together with Mitsubishi(Mitsubishi Debonair).
The New Grandeur was developed together with Mitsubishi (Mitsubishi Debonair). Mitsubishi provided the powertrain and Hyundai took care of the exterior and interior design. Production of the car began in September 1992 and ended in 1998.
The Grandeur XG, this time developed by Hyundai alone, used the same platform and engines as the Kia Amanti. In North America and Europe, it was called the Hyundai XG. Originally powered by a 3.0 L 6-cylinder engine, the XG300 was renamed to XG350 in 2002, to reflect the increase in engine size to 3.5 litres of displacement.
Sold as the Hyundai Azera in North America, the Grandeur TG is a full-size sedan introduced for the 2006 model year. It shares many of its components with the mid-size Sonata.
Being a step up from the Sonata, the Azera is the most luxurious model sold by Hyundai outside of Korea. Pricing for the base model starts at starts at US$24,995. The 2006 Hyundai Azera has a 3.8 L 6-cylinder engine, automatic gearbox, cruise control, automatic air-conditioning, power front seats, anti-lock brakes (ABS), electronic brake-force distribution (EBD), electronic stability control (ESC), and several airbags. The better equipped Limited trim level adds 17-inch alloy wheels, heated front seats, leather seat-upholstery, and a power sunshade for the rear window, and costs US$27,495.
The Hyundai Azera was named "Best New Family Car (over CAN$35,000)" in the 2006 Canadian Car of the Year awards.
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