20th century concerto?

Question

what defines a concerto composed in the 20th century?
thanks

Answer 1

At the risk of sounding like a smartass, the only common thread among 20th century concertos is that they were all written after 1900.

The sheer diversity of styles, form the unabashedly romantic works of Rachmaninoff, to the neo-classic and neo-romantic works of Prokofiev, Bartok, Shostakovich, and Barber, to the Impressionistic work of Ravel, the jazz-influenced work of Gershwin, to the "atonal" works of Ligeti and Schoenberg -- there is just no way to "define" the 20th century concerto except to say "They were written in diverse styles, written after 1900, and were scored for orchestra and solo instrument".

Answer 2

Ditto with glinzek.

There is no apparent style in the 20th century concerto, other than the fact that most of the century, compositions and concertos are rife with atonality - not my cup of tea, I'm afraid. But these are composers who were trying new grounds, creating new harmonies and trying to make new sounds.

But this is what makes the century very appealing. New, strange ideas cropped up, a sign that composers were not afraid to try something new. These were called experimental compositions. The best example is John Cage's 4'33" (four minutes 33 seconds). You will either hate it or love it. The tagline - if there was any - was that each performance of 4'33" is unique and no two are the same. Well, if you consider looking at a pianist sitting in front of a piano for that period of time is music - sitting and doing nothing - then you have a marvelous performance.

To sum it up, there really is no obvious definition for a 20th century concerto. But you can call it a century of new ideas, of experiments, and the works resulting from this century are both weird and wonderful creatures that deserve a second glance.

Answer 3

Glinzek has nailed it (and no he's no smartass). The definition for a concerto does not change by which century it is created in... it still remains a suite of pieces scored for orchestra and lead / solo instrument.
There is no one concerto for the period in question that I can say typifies a 20th century concerto better than any other.

Answer 4

There is nothing different in concerto format between the nineteenth century and the twentieth century. The styles have changed but not the format.