Saint-Georges, Joseph Bologne de (1745-1799)

Saint-Georges published his concertos and symphonies concertantes in pairs, typically with one work scored for strings and the second with wind instruments. The two Concertos Op.4, however, do not conform to this pattern since both works call for pairs of oboes and horns and Op.4 No.1 also includes a pair of bassoon parts. Saint-Georges typically does not entrust the auxiliary parts with presenting thematic material, but their presence adds both to the weight and brilliance of the ritornello sections. The scoring in the solo sections is unusually delicate by the standards of the mid-eighteenth-century concerto with its frequent use of two- and three-part string textures with the viola and/or basso part omitted, and this serves as a reminder that concertos were performed and thought of as a type of chamber music at the time even when they were performed by expanded forces as was likely the case with Op.4. Saint-Georges exploits the high register of solo instruments a good deal and combined with writing that demands great agility on the part of the performer, the solo parts in Op.4 possess an almost palpable physicality.