During 2007, the ABC conducted a survey of its listeners to
find their top 100 concerti which prompted us at White Hat to compile our
own list.
Please bear with us for a couple of weeks while we get our
list together. It takes a while to track down the correct spelling over a
range of languages.
Here is our incomplete list (in no particular order as yet)
Barber
Violin Concerto Op.14 [ABC
No. 68]
Mozart Concertone in C
(for two violins), K190 [ABC - not listed]
Britten
Violin Concerto, Op 13 [ABC - not listed]
Vaughan Williams Tuba Concerto in F
minor [ABC No. 98]
Jongen Symphonie Concertante (for organ and
orchestra) [ABC - not listed]
Saint-Sa ns
Piano Concerto No.2 in G minor Op.22 [ABC No. 58]
Elgar Violin
Concerto in B minor Op.61 [ABC No. 35]
Mozart
Bassoon Concerto in B flat K191 [ABC No. 95]
Villa-Lobos
Harp Concerto
[ABC -
unlisted]
Korngold Violin Concerto in D Op.35 [ABC
No. 88]
Marcello Oboe Concerto in D minor [ABC No. 69]
Haydn Cello
Concerto No.2 in D Hob2 [ABC No. 87]
Vivaldi Piccolo Concerto in C major, RV535 {ABC - not
listed] - the middle movement shows that the piccolo can be a romantic
instrument.
Finzi
Clarinet Concerto [ABC - unlisted]
Villa-Lobos
Harmonica Concerto [ABC - not listed] - one of the finest works of
this prolific composer.
Margaret
Sutherland Concerto Grosso (for violin, viola and harpsichord)
[ABC -unlisted]
Mozart
Piano Concerto No.22 in E flat K482 [ABC No. 63]
Bruch Violin Concerto No.1 in G minor Op.26
[ABC No. 4] - although Bruch wrote nine violin concerti this remains by far
the most popular.
Dvoř k Cello
Concerto in B minor Op.104 [ABC No. 14]
Bart k Piano
Concerto No.2 [ABC - not listed]
Haydn
Sinfonia Concertante in B flat, Hob.I:105
Poulenc
Concerto for Organ, String Orchestra and Timpani [ABC - not listed]
Mozart
Piano Concerto No.21 in C K467 [ABC No. 13]
Jongen Symphonie Concertante for organ and
orchestra [ABC - not listed]
Tchaikovsky
Piano Concerto No.1 in B flat minor Op.23
[ABC No. 9]
Grieg Piano
Concerto in A minor Op.16 [ABC No. 11]
Piazzolla
Aconcagua Bandone n Concerto [ABC - not listed]
Telemann
Viola Concerto in G [ABC No. 97] - this deceptively simple work allows
the viola to display its lyrical qualities in the lower register.
Brahms
Piano Concerto No. 2 in
B♭ Major Op.83
(sheet
music available) [ABC No.20]
Bart k
Concerto for Violin and Orchestra No.2 Sz.112 [ABC - not listed]
Bruch Violin Concerto No.1 in G minor Op.26
[ABC No. 4]
Walton
Violin Concerto [ABC - not listed] - commissioned by the great violinist
Jascha Heifetz
Milhaud
Concerto pour harpe, op323 [ABC - not listed] - there are a number of
romantic concerti for harp full of glissandi and romantic swooshes, but this
sparkling neo-classical concerto exploits the clarity the harp can bring to
the texture of an orchestral work.
Beethoven
Piano Concerto No.5 in E flat Op.73 'Emperor' [ABC - No. 1]
Walton Viola
Concerto [ABC - not listed] - when rejected by the most prominent viola
soloist of the time, a fellow composer,
Paul Hindemith, showed his
belief in the work by playing the solo part in the work's first performance
Shostakovich
Violin Concerto No 1 in A minor, Op 99 [ABC - not listed]
Elgar Cello
Concerto in E minor Op. 85 [ABC No. 5]
Mendelssohn
Violin Concerto in E minor
Op.64 [ABC No. 12]
Mozart
Clarinet Concerto in A K622
[ABC No. 6]
Ravel Piano
Concerto in D Major for the left hand [ABC - not listed] - a work that
is both dark and deep and the first that we chose for this list.
Bach Concerto for 2
Violins in D minor BWV1043 [ABC No. 8] - Any work that can survive being
scraped away at by two 10 year old girls and still leave you engrossed in
Bach's music deserves to be number 1.
Selected sheet music: