Rakochi V. Seventeenth and Eighteenth-Century Instrumental Con- certo: Genesis, Classification, Orchestra

The dissertation is devoted to the evolution of the seventeenth- and eighteenth- century instrumental concerto which is considered in its interaction with the processes of transformation of the orchestra. For more than three centuries, the instrumental con- certo has the status of one of the leading genres in European music, reflecting the growing needs of society to communicate and the demand for a bright creative personality (the soloist) in rivalry and cooperation with the orchestra. Emphasis in the dissertation is placed on the continuity link between the concerto, a genre that consistently embodied the idea of a stage action independent of the composer’s idea, and the orchestra, a musical institution that allowed the implementation of a concerto in essence. Both processes are constantly correlated with each other and have become powerful permanent cata- lysts for each other’s transformations. The continuity and multilevel nature of their mutual influences and the stage-by-stage changes (which are embodied in the main models of the instrumental concerto of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries) have been examined in the dissertation. The concerto is classified from the standpoint of the relationship between a soloist (or several soloists) and the orchestra, and terminological definitions of concertos have been linked with the stylistic era. More than 300 works of foreign researchers and dozens of concertos by lesser-known composers who have significantly influenced the genre have been introduced into the discussion. Consideration of the pro- cess of formation and development of the orchestra made it possible to rethink the genesis, evolution and approaches to the classification of the seventeenth and eight- eenth-century instrumental concerto. The interconnection of the concerto’s stages of transformation on the one side, and the process of modifying the orchestration on the other side, their multi-level and continuous interaction, and emphasis on the orchestra in the development of culture and art allowed to offer the theory of the evolutionary cooperation of the instrumental concerto and the orchestra: the evolution of the instru- mental concerto stands together with the formation and development of the orchestra, and the both processes are powerful permanent catalysts for mutual transformations.