Concerto grosso
The
concerto grosso (Italian for
big concert(o), plural
concerti grossi) is a form of baroque music in which the musical material is passed between a small group of soloists (the
concertino) and full orchestra (the
ripieno or
concerto grosso). This is in contrast to the
concerto which features a single solo instrument with the melody line, accompanied by the orchestra. The form developed in the late seventeenth century, although the name was not used at first. Alessandro Stradella seems to have written the first music in which two groups of different sizes are combined in the characteristic way. The name was first used by Giovanni Lorenzo Gregori in a set of 10 compositions published in Lucca in 1698. The first major composer to use the term
concerto grosso was Arcangelo Corelli. After Corelli's death, a collection of twelve of his
concerti grossi was published; not long after, composers such as Francesco Geminiani, Pietro Locatelli and Giuseppe Torelli wrote concertos in the style of Corelli. He also had a strong influence on Antonio Vivaldi.