▪ I. concert, n.
(ˈkɒnsət)
[a. F. concert (16th c.), ad. It. concerto concert, harmony, f. concertare to concert. At its first adoption this word was confounded with the earlier word consort, which was constantly written for it down to the Restoration, and often later; e.g.
1611 Cotgr., Concert de Musique, a consort of Musicke.]
1. a. Agreement of two or more persons or parties in a plan, design, or enterprise; union formed by such mutual agreement; accordance, harmony.
| 1665 Evelyn Mem. (1857) III. 161 We have hardly any words that do so fully express the French naivete, ennui, bizarre, concert..let us therefore..make as many of these do homage as are like to prove good citizens. 1668 Temple Let. Wks. (1731) II. 86 He..press'd us to a Concert for the Defence of Flanders. 1727 De Foe Syst. Magic ii. vi. 376 By concert and agreement. 1777 Robertson Hist. Amer. I. iv. 342 They act together from instinct..rather than from any formal concert. 1814 Chalmers Evid. Chr. Revel. i. 13 The total want of..concert or collusion. 1884 Times 10 Oct. 3/2 Is there a perfect European Concert? |
b. esp. in phrase
in concert (with).
| 1712 Addison Spect. No. 487. ¶10 When she [the Soul] operates more in concert with the Body. 1772 Priestley Inst. Relig. (1782) I. 390 They did not write in concert. 1844 Thirlwall Greece VIII. lxv. 360 The envoys did not act in concert with one another. 1860 Tyndall Glac. i. vii. 47 We worked in concert for a few days. |
c. fig. Agreement, harmony, orderly union or combination (of things). (Influenced by 2, 2 b.)
| 1796 H. Hunter tr. St.-Pierre's Stud. Nat. (1799) II. 28 Concert is an order formed of several harmonies of various kinds..Every particular Work of Nature presents..harmonies, consonances, contrasts; and forms a real concert. |
d. Phr.
the Concert of Europe.
| 1880 Gladstone Sp. Midlothian 89 My third sound principle is to take care to cultivate and maintain to the utmost the concert of Europe, to keep the Powers of Europe together. 1897 Balfour in Times 17 Feb. 8/3 It is absolutely impossible that you should keep the Concert of Europe going for some purposes connected with the Ottoman Empire, and not going for all purposes. 1897 Marquis of Salisbury in Ibid. 20 Mar. 8/1, I feel it is our duty to sustain the federated action of Europe. I think it has suffered by the somewhat absurd name which has been given to it—the concert of Europe. 1901 Hansard's Parl. Deb. Ser. iv. XCII. 184 He attributes all our misfortunes to the Concert of Europe. Sir, the Concert is not perfect as an international instrument. 1944 H. Nicolson Let. 18 Jan. (1967) II. 345 He says that the Russians want very much to be admitted as a civilised member of the Concert of Europe. ‘They want to belong to the Club.’ 1959 Chambers's Encycl. VII. 683/1 Interstate relationship in the 19th century was regulated at the top level by an international organization which came to be known as the concert of Europe. The concert was in origin an alliance of the other European great powers against Napoleonic France. |
† 2. a. Accordance of voices or instruments; harmonious combination of sounds produced by a number of performers singing or playing together.
| [1586–1710 see consort 3, 3 b.] 1674 Lond. Gaz. No. 961 Feb. 4 A rare concert of four Trumpets Marine, never heard of before in England..Every concert shall continue one hour. 1732 T. Lediard Sethos II. viii. 184 The prayers..are then sung in a concert of voices and instruments. 1770 Gentl. Mag. XL. 449 Whether their concerts were composed of one and the same tone, but sung by different voices. |
b. transf. and
fig. Any combination of voices or sounds. (Now often viewed as
fig. from 4.)
| 1758 Johnson Idler No. 8 ¶12 A sudden concert of terrific vociferation. 1805 Southey Madoc in Azt. xi, The woodman's measured stroke, the regular saw, The wain slow-creaking, and the voice of man Answering his fellow..Strange concert made to those fierce Aztecas. 1862 Sala Seven Sons I. vi. 130 They sobbed in concert till the vehicle stopped. 1874 Bryant Among the Trees 61 The linden in the fervors of July, Hums with a louder concert. |
† c. A piece of music for several instruments;
= concerto (in the earlier sense).
Obs.| 1730–6 Bailey (folio), Consort, better Concert, (in Musick) a Piece that consists of 3 or more parts. |
† 3. A company or set of musicians; a choir.
Obs.| [1606–1704 see consort 4.] 1727 De Foe Hist. Appar. xiv. 353 A concert of angels made most excellent music at his grave. 1743 Tindal Rapin's Hist. Eng. II. 669 The Queen..wanting a Bass to her concert. |
4. a. A musical performance (usually of a series of separate pieces) in which a number of singers or players, or both, take part; a public musical entertainment;
= consort 5. Also, in
phr. in concert, of a (musical) performer or group of performers: appearing before a live audience.
| [1671–1774 see consort 5, and 1674 in 2 above.] |
| 1689 Lond. Gaz. No. 2496/4 The Concerts of Musick that were held in Bow-street and in York-Buildings, are now joyn'd together. 1740 Lady M. W. Montague Lett. III. ix. 17, I am invited..to dinner, which is to be followed by a concert and a ball. 1768 Sterne Sent. Journ., The Translation, I was going..to Martini's concert at Milan. 1855 De Quincey in Page Life (1877) II. xviii. 97 On two separate days of next week Julien gives concerts. 1962 (record title) Joan Baez in concert. 1976 Daily Record (Glasgow) 22 Nov. 18/1 Allmusic presents The Dubliners in concert Thursday, 2nd December, at 7.30 p.m. 1978 Tucson Mag. Dec. 94/3 Linda Ronstadt showed up unexpectedly with the Rolling Stones last July, but she's scheduled to appear again in concert December 20 without them. 1986 Melody Maker 15 Nov. 18 (Advt.), Jazz legend Miles Davis in concert Sunday November 16th. |
cats' concert, the noise of a number of cats wauling; any hideous combination of voices;
Dutch concert, ‘where each performer plays a different tune’.
Slang Dict. (1864) 128.
b. A dancing performance consisting of single items, folk-dances, etc. (in contrast to a full-scale ballet). Freq.
attrib.| 1912 J. E. C. Flitch Mod. Dancing xiv. 209 The next step was the giving of a public concert to make known to the larger world the rediscovery of the ancient dances. 1932 V. Dandre Anna Pavlova 91 Without a company of her own Pavlova could not have given her own ballets... It would have meant limiting herself to concert programmes made up of separate dancing numbers. 1948 ‘La Meri’ Sp. Dancing viii. 95 The solo concert dance was first introduced by Isadora Duncan and Ruth St. Denis. Ibid., By the time Argentina made her first world tour (1929), concert dancing was a ‘fait accompli’. 1967 Chujoy & Manchester Dance Encycl. 218/2 Modern dancers are also called concert dancers. |
5. Comb. as
concert-bill (
cf. play-bill),
concert-giver,
concert-goer,
concert-going,
concert-hall,
concert-music,
concert-piece,
concert-platform,
concert-recital,
concert-ticket;
concert-grand (
colloq.), a grand piano of powerful and brilliant tone suitable for concerts;
concert-master [G.
konzertmeister], the first violin, leader of the orchestra;
concert overture, an orchestral piece resembling an overture but intended for independent performance in a concert-hall;
concert party, (
a) a group of musical perfomers; (
b)
Stock Market [see sense 1 b], a number of parties buying shares in a company within the prescribed limits, with the intention of casting the votes thereby acquired as a single holding; (this practice is now illegal);
concert pitch, ‘a pitch slightly higher than the ordinary pitch, used at concerts for brilliancy and effect’ (Grove
Dict. Mus.); also
fig.;
concert-room, a large room used for concerts.
| c 1815 Jane Austen Persuasion (1833) II. viii. 379 They all had a *concert bill between them. 1865 Atlantic Monthly XV. 718, I read over the concert-bill. 1893 Chambers's Jrnl. 16 Dec. 795/1 An amusing concert bill of the time of Queen Anne. |
| 1836–7 Dickens Sk. Boz (1850) 248/2 Whenever a juggler, or waxwork man, or *concert giver, takes Great Winglebury in his circuit. |
| 1855 Geo. Eliot in Fraser's Mag. July 48/1 Most London *concert-goers..think of him [sc. Liszt] as certainly the archimagus of pianists. 1927 Daily Express 4 Oct. 3/2 Among the songs which have made Mr. Weatherly's name known to millions of concert goers all over the world are ‘The Midshipmite’ [etc.]. 1947 C. Gray Contingencies i. 46 By the ‘ordinary concert-goer’ we..postulate..the audience which congregates at Promenade Concerts. |
| 1942 E. Blom Music in Eng. viii. 128 The habit of *concert-going. 1951 Auden Nones (1952) 67 The paranoic mind Of this undisciplined And concert-going age. |
| 1746 Ipswich Jrnl. 27 Dec. in Chambers's Jrnl. (1875) 800/1 The grand *Concert-hall of vocal and instrumental music. 1869 Broadway I. 537/2 Concert-halls and singing-rooms are equally attractive to the middle and lower orders. 1905 19th Cent. Oct. 567 One central concert hall would be utterly inadequate for the requirements of London. 1946 Penguin Music Mag. Dec. 39 Opera-houses and concert-halls are being rebuilt or built afresh in the devastated towns. |
| [1876 Stainer & Barrett Dict. Mus. Terms 104/2 Concertmeister, the leader of the band, the conductor.] 1889 Cent. Dict., *Concert-master, the first violinist of an orchestra; the leader. 1927 Grove's Dict. Mus. (ed. 3) 693/1 Concert-master, the leader, i.e. the first of the first violins in an orchestra, who sits next the conductor and transmits his wishes to the band. 1954 Times Lit. Suppl. 3 Dec., The American use of ‘Concert-master’, which is also repugnant to English ears, is registered by Mr. Blom with a gentler resignation. |
| 1938 Oxf. Compan. Mus. 679/2 A totally different type of independent overture is that of the *concert overture, of which Mendelssohn is considered to be the inventor (his Hebrides Overture, Dvo{rbreve}ák's Carnival Overture, Brahms's Academic Festival Overture, &c.). 1947 A. Einstein Mus. Romantic Era xi. 143 Liszt's eager listeners and friendly colleagues..tried at first to facilitate the understanding of some of Liszt's works by calling them ‘concert overtures’. |
| 1883 L. Troubridge Jrnl. May, in J. Hope-Nicholson Life amongst Troubridges (1966) 163 In the evening to German Reeds *Concert Party—Corney Grain most amusing. 1895 Roberts & Morton Adv. i. 18, I accepted an engagement from Howard Paul to join his concert-party and tour round the seaside towns. 1960 R. Collier House called Memory xii. 168 The concert party on the pier in pierrot costumes. 1980 Times 2 Feb. 17/7 Mr Raper will be asked to comment on whether or not he has formed a ‘concert party’ with Gasco Investments and various nominee shareholders in St Piran. 1984 Financial Times 16 Jan. 4 An inspector was appointed to determine whether Lonrho, with a 29.9 per cent stake in Fraser, had arranged a ‘concert party’ with other shareholders, to try to gain control of the stores group. |
| 1767 Priestley Present State Electr. viii. 717 A jar containing half a square foot of coated glass sounded F sharp, *concert pitch. 1775 Phil. Trans. LXV. 71 These tones are adapted to English consort pitch. 1817 Mrs. Piozzi Let. 4 Jan. in Autobiogr. (1861) II. 188, I want something to string my spirits up to concert pitch. 1819 Pantologia, Concert pitch implies that..tone to which instruments are adjusted, before they can be used in concert. 1866 Mrs. Stowe Lit. Foxes 115 If a piano is tuned to exact concert pitch, the majority of voices must fall below it. 1888 Burgon 12 Good Men II. v. 47 Screwing up to ‘concert pitch’..men whose traditions were lax and unsatisfactory. 1936 Aircraft Engin. Oct. 273/3 Some more work is necessary..to bring it to ‘concert pitch’. 1966 Crescendo Aug. 21/1, I enjoy playing the flute, because, although the embouchure is difficult, it's in concert pitch. |
| 1927 Melody Maker Sept. 944/3 Cinema music..has a distinct appeal on the *concert platform amongst educated music-lovers. 1963 Times 12 Feb. 11/4 The harmonies of a concert-platform. |
| 1907 Public Opinion 17 May 629/2 Performances of opera in *concert-recital form. |
| 1799 Southey Ballads, St. Gualberto 23 Then had not Westminster, the house of God, Served for a *concert-room. 1886 Pall Mall G. 9 June 4/2 Concert-room music must bow to concert-room traditions. |
| 1813 Jane Austen Let. 3 Nov. (1952) 365, I bought a *Concert Ticket & a sprig of flowers for my old age. 1852 Mrs. Gaskell Let. 4 Sept. (1966) 197 Canon Clifton gave me a concert ticket, & as Meta had one we..went to the Concert. |
▪ II. concert, v. (
kənˈsɜːt)
[ad. F. concerte-r (16th c.), ad. It. concertare to proportion or accord together, to agree or tune together, to sing or play in concert. The Italian is identified by Diez with L.
concertāre intr., to contend zealously, dispute, debate. Such a change of sense might conceivably come about through an intermediate ‘argue out, settle by debate,’ whence ‘come to terms, arrange terms’; but evidence is wanting. Florio has, in 16th c.
It.,
conserto,
consertare, as parallel forms of
concerto,
concertare; these (if real words) point to L.
*consertāre freq. of
conserĕre ‘to join or fit together, connect’; the same origin has been claimed by Spanish etymologists for
Sp. concertar which has among other senses ‘to mend a thing broken’. But here the phonetic change is unexplained. Already in 16th c.
It. concerto was associated in the musical sense with
concento (
concent); Florio, 1598, gives
concerto merely with a cross-reference to
concento. Hence a conjecture that
concerto,
concertare were perversions of
conserto,
consertare, under the influence of
concento: but what then of
Sp. concertar?
In
Eng. used by Barret, from
It., in 1598;
app. not otherwise in use till taken from
Fr. nearly a century later.]
I. † 1. trans. To bring to agreement or unity; to unite.
Obs.| 1598 Barret Theor. Warres ii. i. 22 When as he cannot concert and agree them [soldiers], he is to referre them ouer vnto his Captaine. 1696 Brookhouse Temple Open. 2 Being now concerted into a New Body. |
2. a. To arrange or contrive (measures, an enterprise, etc.) by mutual agreement.
| 1694 Molesworth Acc. Denmark (ed. 3) 47 A Design before concerted..between him and the Bishops. 1710 Swift Lett. (1767) III. 35, I have been walking, and..concerting where to see Mr. Harley. 1725 De Foe Voy. round World (1840) 207 We began to concert measures for his coming on board with secrecy. 1836 Thirlwall Greece II. 21 The insurrection seems not to have been judiciously concerted. |
b. Of a single person: To plan, devise, arrange.
| 1712 Hearne Collect. (Oxf. Hist. Soc.) III. 498, I must now concert matters about y{supt} Affair. 1878 R. B. Smith Carthage 433 He could..concert his measures against any state. |
c. intr. To arrange a matter by agreement
with some one; to form plans; to act in harmony
with.
| 1707 Freind Peterborow's Cond. 174 You may concert in every thing.. with Prince Henry. 1786 T. Jefferson Writ. (1859) I. 567 The gentlemen with whom we had before concerted. 1791 Boswell Johnson 2 June an. 1781, I therefore concerted with Mr. Dilly, that I should steal away. 1796 Nelson 10 July in Nicolas Disp. (1845) II. 208 We concerted on the most proper methods for speedily executing the Vice-Roy's instructions. 1897 Marquis of Salisbury in Hansard's Parl. Deb. Ser. iv. XLVI. 370 Our naval officers have received instructions to take no isolated action, but to concert with the naval officers of the other Powers. |
3. intr. To sing or play in concert.
rare.
| 1827 Pollok Course T. vii, The thrush Concerting with the lark that hymned on high. 1879 [see concerting]. |
4. Mus. (
trans.) To arrange in parts. (
nonce-use from
concerted 2,
q.v.)
| 1884 G. Moore Mummer's Wife (1887) 160 [I do not know] whether I ought to concert that first number..or have it sung in unison. |
† II. 5. [L.
concertāre.] To dispute (a statement, etc.).
Obs. rare.
| 1689 Apol. Failures Walker's Acc. 11 Though Mr. Walker might modestly concert the Truth of those Passages..yet might he at no hand dispute inserting 'em. |