Abstract
This paper examines the birth and development of Brahms' first and second piano concertos. The paper describes the poor reception to the first concerto and Brahms' subsequent reluctance to compose another concerto. Thus the writer explains the twenty year break between the first and second concerto. The paper provides a detailed musical description of these two concertos.

From the Paper
"Various compositions that are now highly praised as masterpieces were not predominantly triumphant in their early years, but few were greeted by actual hisses from the audience. Those that were had typically committed the sin of being too progressive for their day. One such example, the most notorious one, the First Piano Concerto by Brahms a fact which must have been shocking to this composer, who so little identified with progressives. It was one of his first, and most tender, encounters with the determination of the musical establishment. "

Tags:music, musicians, composer, symphony, beethoven, chopin, Liszt, clara, schumann

Abstract
This paper analyzes Mozart's Concerto for Violin & Orchestra No. 3 in G Major, K. 216, Movement I - Allegro. By using time codes to help the reader identify major changes in tempo, soloists and recapitulation, one can listen along to the movement and have a better understanding of Mozart's genius when writing his concertos.

From the Paper
"Mozart's Concerto No. 3 is in three movements. It was written in 1775 and the main theme played by the orchestra at the beginning of the first movement (Allegro) was borrowed from his Il re pastore ("The Shepherd King") (Lieberman, par. 2). The movement is set in the conventional sonata form with orchestral ritornellos alternating with the exposition, development, and recapitulation of the primary themes by the violin. The soloist gives a second exposition and the coda does not come until after an extended solo cadenza."

Tags:216, allegro, concerto, major, mozart, music, classical

Abstract
This paper explains that Bach simply entitled this music the "Six Concertos for several Instruments"; but, Philipp Spitta, 160 years after they were composed, named them the "Brandenburg Concertos", after Christian Ludwig, the margrave of Brandenburg, the most prominent patron of music in Berlin and Prussia. The author points out that the "Sixth Brandenburg Concerto" is distinctive because it features no violins and is scored for two violas, a cello and continuo (which is a bass part usually performed by a harpsichord), which gives it a far darker tone than the other five concerti. The paper states that this version performed by the "Classic Music Studio" Orchestra of St. Petersburg, Alexander Titov conducting, has a muffled sound and is too "Slavic" an interpretation to be appropriate for the Baroque Bach.

From the Paper
"While each concerto features a different set of instruments, all put together represent what music historians consider the synthesis of Baroque concerto styles. This was, of course, long before the concerto was created as a solo instrument playing its own melody, accompanied by an orchestra (Haydn, and of course, Mozart, perfected that style). Here they are considered as concerti grossi, in which a small body of "solo" instruments, called the concertino, contrasts with a larger orchestral group called the ripieno."

Tags:intonation, melody, movements, concerti-grossi, slavic

Abstract
Analysis of Antonio Vivaldi's solo concerto "Primavera" Op. 8, No. 1 ("Spring"). The first of the 4 concertos that make up The Four Seasons, a programmatic piece. Discusses the ideas of the poem. Discusses interpretations. Details each movement and its motifs.

From the Paper
"Antonio Vivaldi's Primavera, or Spring (Op. 8 no. 1) was the first of the set of concertos entitled Le quattro stagioni (Op. 8 nos. 1-4) published in Il cimento dell'armonia e dell'inventione at Amsterdam in 1725 (although the date of their composition is uncertain). The Primavera is a solo concerto scored for Violino principale, two other violins (ripieno), violas, violoncellos and double basses with continuo (usually played on harpsichord). The four concertos provide an example of programmatic music, illustrating four simple poems addressed to the seasons which may have been written, or at least adapted, by Vivaldi himself.
In the poem to Spring, in rough outline, the goddess is welcomed by the singing of birds and the breath of Zephyrs which makes the brooks murmur. Thunder and lightning, one of her signs, arrive and darken the sky. The storm is soon over and the..."

Abstract
This paper looks at Bach's First Brandenburg Concerto in F major. It examines the formal elements of the opening movement and the minuet and polacca at the end of the concerto.

From the Paper
"Johann Sebastian Bach achieved eminence first as a keyboard virtuoso and later as a prolific master composer in nearly all the musical forms and genres of the high Baroque. "

Tags:music, Bach, Brandenburg Concerto

Abstract
This paper studies the dueling themes of reason and passion in the Khatchaturian concerto for violin and orchestra. The paper examines the construction of the concerto and provides a brief biography of the composer.

Tags:Music, Khatchaturian, Concerto, Russian, Music, Armenian, Hero

Abstract
This paper explains, by describing in detail each movement, that Brahms's "Violin Concerto" demonstrates how a composer can use aspects of music to move the listener emotionally. The author, for example, details that Brahms signals changes of mood by using dramatic retards followed by rhythmic passages, thereby, communicating an inevitable feeling of both despair and hope. The paper concludes that the overall feeling of the listener is that in the midst of despair there is always a glimmer of hope (first movement), that in the midst of turbulent emotions we can find peace (second movement), and that life should be full of enthusiasm and joy (third movement.)

From the Paper
"Gradually, the orchestra fades out and the solo violin comes in more rapid and intense, followed by forceful rhythms of the orchestra that builds to an intense climax, but then backs off so a sweet violin melody accompanied by a flute can break through. This ebb and flow of intensity, gradual crescendos and decrescendos continues throughout the first movement, shifting the listener back and forth between hope and despair. In some places, the violin is only accompanied by light pizzicato in the strings. Finally, Brahms brings the movement to a dramatic conclusion with a sometimes fiery and sometimes gentle passage by the violin and a triumphal orchestral denouement. The entire movement gives a feeling of strong, conflicting emotions."

Tags:emotion, violins, retards, chords, pizzicato

From the Paper
"First Movement: Exposition (Bars 1-256). An orchestral unison in the strings announces the principal motive (not really a theme), figure 1, which is extended lyrically (ms. 9-16) to the full tutti repeat of the opening at measure 16. A progression to the subdominant at bar 24 leads to a developmental transition utilizing the scale figure from the opening and in secondary dominant on D (ms. 36-37) to cadence on G at bar 46.
An unprepared shift to g minor eventually leads to the second theme in E-flat major at measure 49, using G and B-flat as common tones. This theme, figure 2, provides much of the developmental material used throughout the movement, especially ... "

Abstract
A quantitative and qualitative analysis of Concerto No. 27 for Piano and Orchestra in B-flat Major by Mozart presented in 3-pages.

Abstract
This paper biographies Russian musician Aram Ilich Khatchaturian and analyzes his Violin Concerto (1940). The paper discusses how the concerto was based on the concept of Mugam--a vocal-instrumental poem whose various episodes are unified by a musical mode. The paper looks at the Khatchaturian concerto as socialist propaganda, or proletarian music.

Tags:Khatchaturian, Concerto, Mugam, Russian, Music, Stalin, Tonal, 12