Solo beginnings

[horndude77]

There's an interesting thread on the horn mailing list: "Name compositions for orchestra (including concerti) that begin with a one single, solo instrument."

Here is their current (unverified) list:

Beethoven: Piano Concerto No.4 - Piano
Beethoven: Violin Concerto Op.40 - Violin
Brahms: Piano Concerto No.2 - Horn
Debussy: Afternoon of a Faun - Flute
Enesco: Rhapsody No.1 - Clarinet
Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue - Clarinet
Ippolitov-Ivanov: Caucasian Sketches Suite #1 - Horn
Mahler: Symphony No.5 - Trumpet
Prokofiev: Lieutenant Kije - Trumpet
Ravel (Mussorgsky): Pictures at an Exhibition - Trumpet
Ravel: Tzigane - Violin
Rimski-Korsakov: Le Coq d'or - Trumpet
Rodrigo: Concierto de Aranjuez - Guitar
R. Strauss: Horn Concerto 2 - Horn
R. Strauss: Burlesque - Timpani
F. Schmidt Symphony No.4 - Trumpet
Sibelius: Symphony No.1 - Timpani
Shostakovich: Symphony #1 - Trumpet
Stravinsky: Rite of Spring - Bassoon
Wagner: Rienzi - Trumpet
Weber: Oberon Overture - Horn

Know any more?

[kalliwoda]

... in the Beethoven Vn concerto its not the violin but the timpani

but interesting idea for a list.

[allegroamabile]

Barber: Piano Concerto - solo piano
Bartok: Viola Concerto - solo viola
Bruch: Concerto for Viola, Clarinet, and Orchestra - solo viola
Corigliano: Clarinet Concerto - solo clarinet
Rossini: Overture to the Thieving Magpie - snare drum
Rossini: William Tell Overture - solo cello
Prokofiev: Peter and the Wolf - narrator
Prokofiev: Violin Concerto No. 2 - solo violin
Poulenc: Organ Concerto - solo organ
Weber (orchestrated by Berlioz): Invatation to the Dance - solo cello
Weber: Overture to Turondot - kettle drum?
Webern: Six Pieces for Large Orchestra - flute

I do believe that the clarinet and timpani play a duet in Sibelius Symphony No. 1.

hope this helps

[Yagan Kiely]

Piano Concerto No. 1 - Shost - Pno
Piano Concerto No. 2 - Shost - Bsn
Cello Concerto - Shost - Vcl
Symphony No. 3 - Shost - Clt
Symphony No. 15 - Shost - Perc
Chout (The Buffoon) Suite Op. 21 - Prokofiev - Flt
Piano Concerto No. 3 - Prok - Clt
Piano Concerto No. 5 - Prok - Pno
Violin Concerto No. 2 - Prok - Vln
Horn Concerto No. 2 - R.Strauss - Hrn
Burleske - Strauss - Timp
Piano Concerto - Grieg - Timp

Didn't have time for more and I don't know if some have been mentioned already.

[horndude77]

I do believe that the clarinet and timpani play a duet in Sibelius Symphony No. 1.

Actually the timpani is solo for half a bar.

... in the Beethoven Vn concerto its not the violin but the timpani

Whoops you're right.

[allegroamabile]

If I am not mistaken, I think the solo cello begins Elgar's Cello Concerto.

I also have others; Britten: Violin Concerto - timpani
Bruch: Violin Concerto No. 1 in g - timpani

Oh, and if you could, give us a link to this page.

Thanks

[horndude77]

Oh, and if you could, give us a link to this page.

It scattered across a few threads here: http://www.mail-archive.com/horn@music.memphis.edu/

Here are the main two:
http://www.mail-archive.com/horn@music. ... 29498.html
http://www.mail-archive.com/horn@music. ... 29550.html

This is the current list I have:

Adams: Short Ride in a Fast Machine - wood block
Barber: Piano Concerto - solo piano
Bartók: Viola Concerto - solo viola
Beethoven: Piano Concerto No.4 - solo piano
Beethoven: Violin Concerto Op.61 - timpani
Beethoven: Romance for Violin and Orchestra Op.40 - solo violin
Beethoven: Wellingtons Sieg, Op.91 - drum
Beethoven: Fantasy for Piano, Chorus, and Orchestra - piano
Berlioz (Weber): Invatation to the Dance - solo cello
Bernstein: Facimile - ???
Bernstein: On the Waterfront - horn
Bernstein: Symphony No.2 - clarinet
Brahms: Piano Concerto No.2 - horn
Britten: Serenade - horn
Britten: Violin Concerto - timpani
Bruch: Concerto for Viola, Clarinet, and Orchestra - solo viola
Bruch: Violin Concerto No.1 - timpani
Corigliano: Clarinet Concerto - solo clarinet
Debussy: Afternoon of a Faun - flute
Dvorak: Slavonic Rhapsody No.1 - timpani
Dvorak: Slavonic Rhapsody No.3 - harp
Elgar: Cello Concerto - solo cello
Enesco: Rhapsody No.1 - clarinet
Franck: Le Chasseur Maudit - horn
Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue - clarinet
Grieg: Piano Concerto - timpani
Hanson: Fanfare for the Signal Corps - ???
Ippolitov-Ivanov: Caucasian Sketches Suite No.1 - horn
Mahler: Symphony No.4 - sleigh bells
Mahler: Symphony No.5 - trumpet
Nielsen: Symphony No.6 - glockenspiel
Prokofiev: Chout (The Buffoon) Suite Op.21 - flute
Prokofiev: Lieutenant Kije - trumpet
Prokofiev: Peter and the Wolf - narrator
Prokofiev: Piano Concerto No.3 - clarinet
Prokofiev: Piano Concerto No.5 - solo piano
Prokofiev: Violin Concerto No.2 - solo violin
Poulenc: Organ Concerto - solo organ
Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto No.2 - solo piano
Ravel (Mussorgsky): Pictures at an Exhibition - trumpet
Ravel: Tzigane - violin
Rimski-Korsakov: Le Coq d'or - trumpet
Rodrigo: Concierto de Aranjuez - guitar
Rossini: Overture to the Thieving Magpie - snare drum
Rossini: William Tell Overture - solo cello
Saint-Saëns: Piano Concerto No.2, Op.22 - solo piano
R. Strauss: Horn Concerto 2 - solo horn
R. Strauss: Burlesque - timpani
F. Schmidt Symphony No.4 - trumpet
Sibelius: Symphony No.1 - timpani
Sibelius: Symphony No.7 - timpani
Shostakovich: Piano Concerto No.1 - solo piano
Shostakovich: Piano Concerto No.2 - bassoon
Shostakovich: Cello Concerto - solo cello
Shostakovich: Symphony No.1 - trumpet
Shostakovich: Symphony No.3 - clarinet
Shostakovich: Symphony No.15 - perc
Stravinsky: Rite of Spring - bassoon
Wagner: Rienzi - trumpet
Weber: Oberon Overture - horn
Weber: Overture to Turondot - kettle drum?
Webern: Six Pieces for Large Orchestra - flute

[Yagan Kiely]

Mahler: Symphony No.4 - sleigh bells

Nope, has flute also.

I'd like to also add R.Strauss's Salome - Clt

Does Stravinsky's Soldier's Tale start with solo? I lost my recordings of him so I can't check.

[Niels]

Liszt's Totentanz starts with solo piano.

[Lyle Neff]

Speaking of timpani:

• Haydn: Symphony No. 103, in E-flat, first movement
  
  Also, the introduction to Paliashvili's Abesalom and Eteri.

[dwil9798]

Some others:

Bartok: Piano Concerto No. 2 - Piano
de Falla: Sombrero de Tres Picos - Timpani
Holst: Venus from "the Planets" - Horn
Leoncavallo: Pagliacci - Trumpet
Messiean: Francois d'Assise - Xylophone
Puccini: Suor Angelica - Bells
Schoenberg: A Survivor from Warsaw - Trumpet
Schoenberg: Piano Concerto - Piano
Webern: Symphony - Horn

[allegroamabile]

Will you consider adding wind band pieces that begin with a solo instrument to this list?

[KGill]

Varese: Ameriques, alto flute
If we're counting 'narrator' as an instrument, then
Bartok: Bluebeard's Castle, narrator

[allegroamabile]

I got one more coming your way.
Spohr: Clarinet Concerto No. 1 - timpani

I listen to music pretty regularly so I'm keeping in mind which pieces start with a solo instrument.

[allegroamabile]

and Copland: Clarinet Concerto - harp