The Classical concerto (roughly 1750 to 1820): the single soloist, the first-movement ritornello-sonata form, the cadenza, Alberti bass and balanced phrasing, the growing orchestra, with composers such as Haydn and Mozart.

What this dot point is asking

The Classical concerto (roughly 1750 to 1820) is the second stage of Area of Study 2. You need to know its standard form (a single soloist, three movements, the first in a ritornello-sonata hybrid), its defining cadenza, its textures (Alberti bass, balanced periodic phrasing), the growing orchestra that drops the continuo, and the leading composers (Haydn, Mozart). The listening paper expects you to tell a Classical concerto from a Baroque one and to explain the cadenza.

The single soloist and three movements

The Classical concerto settles on a single soloist (the piano became the favourite, alongside violin and wind instruments) against a fuller orchestra. It is in three movements: a substantial fast first movement, a lyrical slow movement, and a lively finale, often a rondo. The drama comes from the dialogue between one soloist and the orchestra, rather than the Baroque concertino group.

First-movement form and the cadenza

The cadenza is the showpiece moment and a reliable sign of a concerto (a symphony has no soloist to play one). Recognising the orchestra freezing on a chord, the soloist taking flight alone, and the trill that brings everyone back, lets you both identify the cadenza and place the extract in a concerto first movement.

Textures and the growing orchestra

Classical textures are clear and balanced, very different from the busy Baroque. Listen for:

• Periodic phrasing - neat, balanced phrases, often four bars of "question" answered by four of "answer".
• Alberti bass - a broken-chord accompaniment (low, high, middle, high) under a melody, common in keyboard writing.
• Gradual dynamics - crescendo and diminuendo, replacing terraced shifts.
• A larger orchestra - paired woodwind (flutes, oboes, clarinets, bassoons), horns and sometimes trumpets and timpani, with the harpsichord continuo gone.

Examples in context

Mozart's piano concertos are the model: a first movement where the orchestra states the themes, the piano enters in dialogue, the material is developed and recapitulated, and a cadenza near the end shows off the soloist before the final tutti. The slow movement is songlike, the finale often a sparkling rondo. Haydn's trumpet concerto shows the same plan with a wind soloist, its finale a bright rondo. Throughout, the textures are clear, the phrasing balanced, and the dynamics shaped gradually.

Try this

Q1. How many soloists does a Classical concerto usually have, and how many movements? [2 marks]

• Cue. A single soloist, in three movements (fast, slow, fast, the finale often a rondo).

Q2. What is an Alberti bass? [1 mark]

• Cue. A broken-chord accompaniment (notes of a chord played in a low, high, middle, high pattern) under a melody, common in Classical keyboard music.

Q3. Explain what a cadenza is and where it occurs. [5 marks]

• What the marker wants. An unaccompanied solo passage displaying virtuosity on the movement's themes, near the end of the first movement after an orchestral pause, ending in a trill that cues the closing tutti, originally improvised and later written out.