Max Bruch - Concerto in E minor for clarinet, viola and orchestra, Op 88

[FBerwald]

I just finished listening to the Concerto in E minor for clarinet, viola and orchestra, Op 88 by Max Bruch. What a beautiful combination. I wonder why its not in the standard repertoire. I had a version for Viola and violin - Not a very satisfying version!!!!

What are your opinions? And are there other Double (or Triple ..) Concertos of unusual  instrument combination?

[Marcus]

Hello FBerwald,
Just a few double & triple concertos, courtesy of Wikipedia & other sources :
These are all modern works, & excepting the well known works by Mozart,Beethoven & Brahms, Telemann & Vivaldi would be a good start for the earlier works, and there must be others from the 18th &19th centuries.
Barber -Capricorn Concerto for Flute,Oboe &Trumpet
M.Tippett -Triple Concerto Violin,Viola & cello
Casella   -    "          "         Violin, Cello & Piano
Mageau -     "          "         Violin, Cello & Piano
Dubrovay -   "         "          Trumpet, Trombone & Tuba
Martino   -    "         "          Clarinet, Bass Clarinet & Contrabass Clarinet
B.Wagenaar "        "           Flute, Cello & Harp
Britten -    Double Concerto Violin & Viola
Carter -       "              "        Piano & Harpsichord
Delius -        "              "        Violin & Cello
Henze -       "               "       Oboe & Harp
Ligeti -         "              "       Flute & Oboe
Lutoslawski -"           "         Oboe & Harp
Martinu  -     "            "        Flute & Violin
Quadreny -  "            "        Ondes Martenot & Percussion
Badings -     "           "          Bassoon & Contrabassoon
Marcus.

[Alan Howe]

I wonder how many of these would yield much listening pleasure?

[Marcus]

Yes I agree Alan. Except for a couple of these, I doubt if Cd sales would be worth the trouble, although, believe it or not, I have grown to like the Martino work, but it took many hearings. But works that require a degree of  concentration are not my cup of tea, however, there would be  many who do not share my tastes in music, and they are entitled to be heard.
I prefer the clarinet version of Bruch's Concerto, as it makes  the work  sparkle.
It is a pity that Bruch's works are not better known,  & his two early String Quartets, written early in his life, have only the one recording ? that I know of. CPO released a disc of some of his other chamber works a few years ago.
Marcus.

[eschiss1]

Yes I agree Alan. Except for a couple of these, I doubt if Cd sales would be worth the trouble, although, believe it or not, I have grown to like the Martino work, but it took many hearings. But works that require a degree of  concentration are not my cup of tea, however, there would be  many who do not share my tastes in music, and they are entitled to be heard.
I prefer the clarinet version of Bruch's Concerto, as it makes  the work  sparkle.
It is a pity that Bruch's works are not better known,  & his two early String Quartets, written early in his life, have only the one recording ? that I know of. CPO released a disc of some of his other chamber works a few years ago.
Marcus.

Re the Bruch quartets, there is at least one other recording, on Dynamic (1983/1993, Academica String Quartet.) Probably NLA, of course.

Eric

[wunderkind]

There is a Koch-Schwann disc which includes three double concertos:

the aforementioned by Bruch;
for oboe, harp and chamber orchestra by Lutoslawski;
Duet-Concertino for clarinet, bassoon, harp & strings (is that a triple concerto?), by Richard Strauss.

[Marcus]

Hello Eric,
Yes that is the disc I have.
Marcus.

[eschiss1]

Hello Eric,
Yes that is the disc I have.
Marcus.

Whoops. You then mentioned cpo (another recording of theirs, not of the quartets), and I remembered cpo had recorded Bruch's two string quartets, and I thought "well, besides cpo, didn't Dynamic also record the quartets?"... but anyway, the two recordings of the two quartets are on Dynamic and on cpo.  I think...
Eric

[Marcus]

Hello Eric,
I have the CPO disc (octet,quintets) & didn't realise they had also released the quartets - my mistake ! - although I did qualify my statement with a question mark, and said "that I know of".
Marcus.

[John H White]

Marcus, to add to your list there are also the concerto for string quartet and orchestra by Spohr and that for horn and violin by Ethyl Smyth, both of which have been issued on CD in recent years.

[Gareth Vaughan]

There is also the lovely concerto for Violin & Harp by Spohr (recorded). Paul Juon wrote a triple concerto for violin, cello & piano which he called "Episodes Concertantes" which is a gorgeous piece. Emanuel Moor wrote concertos for 2 cellos, piano & violin, piano cello & violin, string quartet and a Concertstuck for Violin and Cello. Thieriot wrote concertos for 2 pianos, violin & viola, violin & cello, and 3 violins. The VC by Carl Storr is really a concerto for violin and harp.

[eschiss1]

There is also the lovely concerto for Violin & Harp by Spohr (recorded). Paul Juon wrote a triple concerto for violin, cello & piano which he called "Episodes Concertantes" which is a gorgeous piece. Emanuel Moor wrote concertos for 2 cellos, piano & violin, piano cello & violin, string quartet and a Concertstuck for Violin and Cello. Thieriot wrote concertos for 2 pianos, violin & viola, violin & cello, and 3 violins. The VC by Carl Storr is really a concerto for violin and harp.

Other concertos for violin, cello, piano and orchestra include Casella's, Frankel's and of course Beethoven's... all recorded.  David Ott also wrote a 2-cello concerto.  There's at least a few violin/cello concertos besides the Brahms- Roger Sessions', Lou Harrison's (I think), several early ones by JC Bach (sinfonie concertanti rather than concertos really)...
Eric

[TerraEpon]

There are of course hundreds (thousands?) of sinfonia concertantes, all for two or more instruments and orchestra.

As for things labeled "concerto", well Krommer wrote a pair for two clarinets.

[eschiss1]

There are of course hundreds (thousands?) of sinfonia concertantes, all for two or more instruments and orchestra.

As for things labeled "concerto", well Krommer wrote a pair for two clarinets.

Oh, all the examples I listed (except the Frankel) were described by their composers as concertos (Frankel described his as a "Serenata concertante", JC Bach his as "sinfonie concertanti") - that's all I meant.
There's also a Martinu concertino for piano trio and strings which I wasn't aware of, apparently...
Eric

[Steve B]

The first 2 movements of the Spohr concertante for Violin, harp and orchestra are, indeed, lovely. Spohr at his melliflous, melodic best
Steve