In classical music, is there an average length or a time limit for a "concerto"?

Question

Someone told me it is 18-20 minutes - but I had the impression they were only guessing!

Answer 1

i've never heard of a time limit for anything in classical music. it's a form of art, so i think the art would be losing its integrity if there were a time limit put on it. it would be like stealing monet's brush when he's only half-done with his painting!

Answer 2

There is no such thing as an official time limit. Concertos, like symphonies, are "absolute" pieces of music, they do not want to tell a story; this and the fact that they are to be performed during concerts, will ut a natural limit to their duration.

Looking at different musical periods we can find something like an average durazion of a concerto: During baroque times a concerto was mostly composed for private performance at court. The duration was about 15 to 20 minutes for three movements.
At the end of the 18th century with the strengthening of the public concert their duration increased (just like the symphonies'): Mozart's concertos take all about half an hour for three movements.
Later this process continued until it reached its summit towards the end of the 19th century; Brahms' concertos for example take about 50 minutes for four movements, while the first movement takes 20 minutes itself.
In the 20th century concertos vary within a wide range. Neoclassic concertos (Strawinsky) might be quite short, while others, referring to the romatic period, may still take about 45 minutes.

Answer 3

I'd say about quarter to a half the length of a symphony ...but how long is a symphony...there's no fixed answer, though they are over an hour maybe the length of the average LP album, or more often double album...(the questions a bit like asking how long and LP album is, vs an EP or a single disc or an individual pop song- not fixed but can be given some idea)