Revitalizing a Once Obsolete Instrument

After writing many chamber works and vocal numbers involving the arpeggione, finally I can say I have written the first full-scale concerto for the instrument since the forgotten pieces of the 1820s.

It has, for some years now, been my hope that I would be able to do for the arpeggione what Johann Sebastian Bach did for the cello, or what Ravel did for the double-action orchestral harp. But one thing neither Bach nor Ravel did was write a concerto for their newly introduced instrument. Great concerti exist for the cello by such great composers as Schumann and Bocherini from the early years - not to mention the well-deserved fame of the Dvorak concerto. And the orchestral harp has its place in the repertoire as a soloist as well. But as they are now well established instruments of the orchestral and chamber repertoire alike, I felt the need as a composer to find new instruments to write solo parts for, and to popularize.

My Concerto for Guitarre d'Amore and Orchestra is now available for download on my site (DJRosenschein@musicaneo.com). Also available is the solo arpeggione part, as is the full score of each of its four movements. I invite any who are interested to visit my site and download the score of this piece I am proud of. And while there, the visitor may also download a wide variety of other music for orchestra, choir, chamber ensembles or simple vocal ensembles which I have written as well. Enjoy.