Classical Music > Concertos

These are works for one or more solo instruments and orchestra. The most famous of all concertos is Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, actually a set of four concertos each devoted to one season. Most great composers have written concertos, with Vivaldi and Mozart being the most prolific – Vivaldi wrote hundreds of concertos for many different instruments and string orchestra and Mozart wrote 27 piano concertos and five violin concertos. In the 19th century, many instrumental virtuosos wrote concertos as vehicles for their own performances; Paganini wrote six violin concertos, Liszt wrote two piano concertos and Chopin wrote two as well. The most popular piano concerto of all is probably that written by Tchaikovsky, who also wrote one of the most popular violin concertos.