Franz Joseph Haydn was a Classical composer: Classical composers were “Enlightened” men, developing sonata form like Franz Haydn. Mozart was another who liked clarity. Such balanced melodies occurred until 1830. Ohhhh, this is the musical timeline! It starts with the Early Age. Then it’s Renaissance, Baroque, and Classical, Romantic, and not to forget the Modern Day!

It’s another concerto! Do you remember what a concerto is? A concerto is a piece of music in which the whole orchestra plays but one instrument gets a special part. In this piece, “Cello Concerto No. 2”, it is the cello that gets the special part. The tricky part about a cello concerto is that it is difficult for a cello to be heard above the other instruments because it is so low. It is much easier for us to hear instruments that are higher-pitched, instruments like the piccolo. Haydn solved this problem by having the rest of the orchestra only play light, musical decorations while the cello is playing. In this piece, we hear the cello and orchestra taking turns to play, almost like they are having a musical conversation.

Do you have your silent cellos ready to play? Get your batons and your instruments ready and let’s listen!

Review questions:

1. Who is the composer and which musical era is he from?

2. What is the name of this piece?

3. What is a concerto?

4. Which instrument gets the main part in this piece?

5. What does it sound like the main instrument and the orchestra are doing in this piece?