A cello concerto is a three-movement musical work for a solo cello (a bowed string instrument related to the violin family) with orchestral accompaniment. A concerto is a musical composition in which the soloist and the orchestra alternate between periods of opposition and cooperation to create a cohesive musical piece, possibly derived from the Latin words conserere, which means “to tie” or “to join,” and certamen, which means “to fight.” Despite the fact that cello concertos were first written during the Baroque period (the 16th to 18th centuries), few were written before the 19th century due to a preference for violin and piano concertos. During the Romantic Era, the cello was fully recognized as a solo instrument, and notable cello concertos by popular composers such as Robert Schumann, Camille Saint-Saens, and Antonn Dvorák were written for it. By the twentieth century, the cello had gained the same level of respect and recognition as the piano and violin as a concerto instrument.
One notable distinction between cello concertos and concertos for other musical instruments is that cello concertos are frequently composed with a limited number of orchestral elements. The four-stringed instrument is larger than some other violin family instruments and produces sound at a lower register than a piano or violin, making the music produced by the instrument more easily lost in the background of a full orchestra. Cello concertos by contemporary composers such as Sergei Prokofiev, Dmitri Shostakovich, György Ligeti, and Edward Benjamin Britten are thought to have been most popular during World War II.
Edward Elgar’s Cello Concerto in E minor, Op. 85 is probably one of the most well-known cello concertos. The mournful piece is said to represent an introspective look at death and mortality. It was written in 1919, shortly after the end of the First World War and shortly after Elgar had to undergo risky surgery to remove an infected tonsil. It starts with a solo cello and the contributing orchestra interacting, then moves into a lighthearted middle section before ending with a slower version of the composition’s main theme. This cello concerto didn’t gain popularity until the 1960s, when it was recorded by renowned cellist Jacqueline du Pré and became a classical best-seller.