Cello concerto

A cello concerto (sometimes called a violoncello concerto) is a concerto for solo cello with orchestra or, very occasionally, smaller groups of instruments.

These pieces have been written since the Baroque era if not earlier. However, unlike the violin, the cello had to face harsh competition from the older, well-established viola da gamba. As a result, few important cello concertos were written before the 19th century – with the notable exceptions of those by Vivaldi, C.P.E. Bach, Haydn and Boccherini. Its full recognition as a solo instrument came during the Romantic era with the concertos of Schumann, Saint-Saëns and Dvořák. From then on, cello concertos have become more and more frequent. Twentieth-century composers have made the cello a standard concerto instrument, along with the already-rooted piano and violin concertos; among the most notable concertos of the first half of the century are those of Elgar, Prokofiev, Barber and Hindemith. Many post-World War II composers (Shostakovich, Walton, Ligeti, Britten, Dutilleux, Lutoslawski and Penderecki among others) have written at least one.

One special consideration composers must take with the cello (as well as all instruments with a low range) is with the issue of projection. Unlike instruments like the violin, whose high range projects fairly easily above the orchestra, the cello's lower notes can be easily lost when the cello is not playing a solo or near solo. Because of this, composers have had to deliberately pare down the orchestral component of cello concertos while the cello is playing in the lower registers.

Selected list of Cello Concertos

Cello concertos near the center of the "repertoire". The original list of cello concertos has been moved to List of compositions for cello and orchestra.

Selected list of other concertante works

See also

• Cello sonata
• List of compositions for cello and orchestra

Violin family
Instruments	Violin Viola Cello Double bass Violin range Kit violin Five string violin Violino piccolo Viola range Vertical viola Viola pomposa Tenor range Tenor violin/Tenor viola Violotta Viola profunda Cello range Baritone violin Cello da spalla Cellone Bass range Bass violin Violone Octobass
Parts	Bass bar Bow Bridge Chinrest Endpin F-hole Fingerboard Frog Nut Scroll Shoulder rest Sound post Tailpiece Tuning peg
Techniques	Bowing Col legno Down bow Up bow Martelé Portato Spiccato Tremolo Arpeggio Artificial harmonic Double stop Fingering Finger substitution Bariolage Pizzicato Scordatura (changing string tuning) Vibrato
Ensembles and genres	String quartet String trio String quintet String sextet String octet String section String orchestra Violin concerto Viola concerto Cello concerto Double bass concerto Violin sonata Viola sonata Cello sonata Carnatic music
Other	Violin physics Violin history Jazz bass Jazz violin Rosin Stradivarius Viol Violin lutherie Violin musical styles Violin octet