In the baroque era most concertos were - in the modern sense of the term - chamber music, to be played by a small group of musicians each reading from an individual printed or manuscript part. Indeed, composers often expected the soloist to be accompanied by just a string quartet with a harpsichord or organ continuo. But over the thirty years from 1750, as the classical style was being developed, numbers began to rise slowly. This did not happen at a uniform rate throughout Europe, however, for many concertos continued to be played one-to-a-part, and even by 1780 an ensemble with more than...
In the baroque era most concertos were - in the modern sense of the term - chamber music, to be played by a small group of musicians each reading from...
