A viola concerto is a piece of music with a solo viola and a supporting orchestra. A viola concerto, like concerti for other instruments, usually has multiple movements. The goal of a viola solo is to highlight a viola player’s level of expression and technical ability, but because the word “concerto” means “to play off of each other in an almost fighting or dueling style,” the supporting orchestra must be equally talented.
Viola concerti are somewhat of a rarity, which means that while examples do exist, they are far less common than concerti for other instruments. This has to do with the development of the viola. It also has to do with the viola’s acoustic properties and the role it usually plays in ensembles.
Stringed instruments with bows existed prior to the 16th century, but they differed from members of the modern violin family in terms of overall design, size, and number of strings. Scholars aren’t sure which member of the modern violin family came first, but based on linguistic evidence and the presence of specific terminology in musical documents and scores, some experts believe the viola came first. Even so, it wasn’t until the mid- to late- 1500s that this occurred. Because the instruments available at the time did not allow for as much virtuosity, and because it took time for musicians to move past preconceived ideas about how and what to compose, instrumental concerti for any instrument did not appear until the end of the 1600s.
Because it took time for the entire violin family to develop and become refined, composers did not consider the viola as a solo instrument until the baroque period, roughly 1650 to 1750. Georg Philip Telemann’s Viola Concerto in G Major is an example of a viola concerto written during this time period. Some musicians believe this is one of, if not the first, viola concerti ever written. A few composers tried their hand at viola concertos as well, but the viola concerto, like other forms, fell out of favor until the twentieth century, when composers “rediscovered” the viola.
Viola concerti have never really caught on with composers because, despite having a beautiful tone in its own right, the viola is usually used as a supporting instrument. It serves as an inner voice in ensembles, playing harmonizing pitches or countermelodies. Because of the viola’s pitch range, it has the same issue as the cello in that it’s difficult for players to project their sound easily over the accompaniment orchestra. With a chamber orchestra of 50 or fewer players, this is less of an issue, but standard orchestras can have up to 100 players. Another issue is that the violin is a more popular instrument, making it difficult for composers to select the viola when they want their work to be remembered or performed at concerts.
Viola concerti are usually written in the “Italian” concerto form from a technical standpoint. This means there are three movements, the first of which is fast, the second of which is slow, and the third of which is fast. After the Baroque period, when the concerto usually had four movements of slow, fast, slow, and fast tempos, this form became popular. The first movement of a three-movement viola concerto is usually written in sonata form, the second in ternary form, and the third in rondo form.