The “trois coups du brigadier” to announce the entry of the soloist in the concerto : birth and death of a norm

Abstract

In the concertos of the second half of the 18th century, the last measures of the
initial tutti were intended to announce the imminence of the entry of the soloist.
This standard was created backwards, starting from the rupture point which is the
entry of the soloist. Initially, composers foresaw a silence separating the first tutti
from the first solo, in order to catch the attention of the public and to acoustically
sever the soloist from the orchestra. Later, this silence was preceded by three
quarter notes, stressed by all the orchestra, on the first degree of an authentic
cadence in the main tonality. The coups du brigadier were born. The name refers to
the three blows struck before beginning a theatre performance by a stick known as
the brigadier. Particularly eloquent in Mozart’s pieces, it forms the standard of
exposition closure during forty years, and also relates to other key moments of the
first movement, as for example announcing a cadenza. Its disappearance later starts
with a progressive weakening in the concertos of Viotti, and is entirely perpetrated
by Beethoven and Hummel who propose a new type of entry of the soloist with a
cross fade.