So I've recently heard two excellent pieces, The Yellow River Concerto (Yin Chengzong with an unidentified orchestra) and the Concerto for Sitar (Ravi Shankar and London Symphony Orchestra). Yes, I know the Yellow River is a piano concerto, but because of it's Eastern influence I will count it. Add to that a recent posting by pianojerome of a concerto with a jazz trio. Does anyone else know of any other good concertos for unique, non-traditional or foreign instruments? Or just conceptually different than what we're used to?

Like the Concerto for Horn and Hardart, by P.D.Q. Bach?

That one's a keeper.

I have a recording of mandolin concertos--certainly not what one hears every day--and they're great!

Ralph Vaughn Williams wrote a Tuba Concerto. I think Malcolm Arnold wrote one for harmonica. Messiaen wrote for Ondes Martinot. I am pretty sure there is a Theremin concerto. But those instruments are not unique, like the Hardart was.

Well, I said anything non-traditional was fine. After all, harmonica concertos are not usually what one finds on a concert program.

But no theremin, please!

BDB:
I think Malcolm Arnold wrote one for harmonica

Indeed he did. And the Villa-Lobos one is quite charming too.

-Michael B.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Po%C3%A8me_Symphonique_for_100_metronomes

Not a concerto entirely, but a foreign instrument.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=X8v-uDhcDyg

This is a video of the above-mentioned metronome thing.

10 minutes of your life you'll never get back!

Well, there is:

- André Jolivet: Concerto for Ondes Martenot and Orchestra
- Gunther Schuller: Concerto for Contrabassoon and Orchestra
- Donald Martino: Triple Concerto for Clarinet, Bass Clarinet, Contrabass Clarinet and Orchestra
- Michael Denhoff: "Tableaux sombres" for Heckelphone and Orchestra
- Harald Genzmer: two Concerti for Mixtur-Trautonium and Orchestra
- Georg Friedrich Haas: "Hyperion" for Light and Orchestra

I'm not sure if the saxophone is foreign enough to a standard concert programme, but if it is:

- Mark-Anthony Turnage: "Your Rockaby" for Soprano Saxophone and Orchestra

Yes, I actually watched the whole thing

So did I! I tried skipping around, but it just sounded like I was cheating.

That said, lately, I've been listening to a lot of music that most people would consider random notes.

Not so far mentioned:

Gliere: Concerto for Coloratura Soprano and Orchestra, Op 82.

Well, there's always Cage's 4'33"...

Over on CMG, we had a concerto for kazoo.

I think Larry Adler plays that harmonica concerto...

There's one for bouzouki (beware of Greeks bearing gifts...)

More later...

I saw the Villa-Lobos played live.

i heard an acordion concerto a few year back, but thought it's not good one since acordion is certainly not suitable as a solo instrument with orchestra.

I like the Concert champêtre, by Poulenc. It is written for a not-so-uncommon instrument that nevertheless rarely gets the spotlight in front of a large orchestra...

One that I have heard live and really like is Milhaud's Concerto for Percussion, which uses no tuned instruments.

Rondo for Glass Armonica and Chamber Ensemble by W. A. Mozart (K617a)

An interesting link: http://www.glasharfe.de/glasharfe/texte/history.htm

There's a famous recording of the Four Seasons by a Koto orchestra. There are also quite a few western pieces performed on Chinese instruments such as the Erhu - the two stringed violin.

Mark Atkins wrote his Digeridoo Concerto in 1994 - the performer plays continuously for 50 minutes. Pass the lip balm.

Mike Hannickel wrote a concerto for Triangle and band. Wow.

Then there is the classic piece by Leroy Anderson called "The Typewriter" , as well as his "Sandpaper Ballet"

How about now soloist?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concerto_for_Orchestra

Damn! Tenuto got to the Glass Armonica first, an instrument invented by Benjamin Franklin.

Here's a picture of Franklin playing a Glass Armonica.



Tomasino

Quite a few composers have written for the Glass Armonica, including contemporary composers. Something was even performed with the Philadelphia Orchestra awhile back.

Steven Paulus, a casual acquaintance of mine, and a well known composer here in the midwest, did his master's dissertation on the instrument, and built one in the process. It now resides in the Schubert Club's Museum of Musical Instruments in St. Paul, Minnesota. He used an old singer sewing machine treadle to turn the glass dishes.

Tomasino

I wonder if anyone has already written a concerto for whistler (i.e. not the tin type).
Maybe this guy should perform it?

Oh, and Maxwell Davies's orchestral piece An Orkney Wedding with Sunrise features Scottish bagpipes.

A wonderfully boozy piece of music! Boozy enough, presumably, that we don't really care that the Highland Pipes are not native to Orkney.

And whilst we're on that subject, isn't Malcolm Arnold's Tam o'Shanter Overture just a hoot? Robbie Burns would be proud!

John Handy here has written a fine saxophone concerto.

Tan Dun wrote a Concerto for Water Percussion. Thankfully, his fifteen minutes are pretty much done.

Actually, the Milhaud uses Timpani, which is tuned percussion...My favorite of that piece is the bass drum with cymbal attached to the beater.

Percussion concertos, I suppose if you consider them unique, Ewazen, Schwanter, and Kraft are all nice.