Solo

What it means

Solo designates the playing or singing of a single person, whether as a whole piece or as a passage standing out within a larger context. In orchestral parts the marking stands where an instrument is to be heard alone or leading; it is cancelled by tutti. In the concerto, solo designates the soloist's sections as opposed to the orchestra. In chamber music, solo piece means a work for one instrument alone.

In the notation

The marking stands in the part above the note concerned, often additionally emphasized by a box. In orchestral parts of multiply scored sections it means that only the first player of the desk plays; tutti brings the section back together. If the cancellation is missing, the instruction continues.

Musical use

Bringing out a single voice is a basic device of orchestration. It creates closeness, gives a line personal colouring, and lifts it out of the ensemble. At the same time it means responsibility: a solo is heard, and so are errors. In the concerto, the alternation of solo and tutti forms the structure; in orchestral music the solo serves colour and is used at selected points. Many orchestral solos belong to the core stock of the repertoire and are part of audition repertoire. In Baroque music, solo in concerti grossi stands for the instruments of the concertino, as opposed to the tutti of the ripieno. In jazz it designates the improvised section of a single musician.

Performance practice

Prepare a solo like chamber music: know the context, know who accompanies and who moves along. Play with personal shaping but within the frame of the whole. Watch the balance and that the accompaniment recedes — that is a matter of agreement, not of playing louder. Check in the part where tutti applies again, and mark it. Practise entries after longer rests with a recording, so that they sit securely.

The return to the full scoring is indicated by tutti. Mark it and enter the cancellation. Solo passages in the orchestra, for instance the oboe solo, are often played by the section leader.