Konzertant
Concerting, virtuoso.
What it means
Konzertant is the German equivalent of concertante and designates a concerting, soloistically emerging manner of playing. A voice detaches itself from the ensemble, takes over the lead, and enters into an interplay with the others.
The word refers to the principle of concerting: the confrontation of different groups of sound, which has established itself since the early seventeenth century as the basic idea of many genres. Konzertant therefore means not only virtuoso but above all dialogic — the emerging voice relates to the others.
As a genre designation the word appears in combinations such as “Konzertante Sinfonie,” by which works for several solo instruments and orchestra are meant. It differs from brillant, which stresses the brilliance of execution, through its reference to the ensemble.
In the notation
The word stands above the staff of the part concerned or in the title of a work. In scores it indicates sections in which an instrument is led soloistically. Often a dynamic marking of its own is added that lifts the part above the accompaniment.
Musical use
Concertante sections are found in chamber music, in which an instrument temporarily takes over the lead, in orchestral works with soloistically emerging voices, and in piano trios and quartets, in which the piano is often treated concertante. In the music of the late eighteenth century, the sinfonia concertante forms a genre of its own.
The marking is also found in titles. The solo part thereby emerges. Mozart's Sinfonia concertante K. 364 for violin and viola is a well-known example.
Other names
Concertante is the Italian form. As a noun it also designates a genre, the sinfonia concertante, in which several solo instruments concert with the orchestra.
Performance practice
Step forward without losing the connection to the ensemble: concerting means interplay, not going it alone. Shape more freely and distinctly than in an accompanying function, but in the shared tempo. Watch when the lead passes to another voice, and then step back. And settle such transitions in rehearsal so that they become audible.