: In the baroque period, did soloists play all the way through concertos? In most recordings of baroque concertos that I've heard, the soloist plays straight through without stopping, especially in the first movement. While

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I've read that this was the practice with Vivaldi Concertos (to play through the tuttis). But I am open to the possibility that perhaps the tutti sections were written into the solo parts as cues for the soloist. I've never seen this possibility discussed. Probably there are some good reasons that I don't know about. (Especially since I haven't made a study of the subject, just had it as something I've long wondered about.)

One question that arises, at what point did the practice of including cues start, and were smaller notes used from the start, or were the smaller noteheads an innovation, and if so, when was that innovation?

As far as the modern oboe is concerned, it certainly makes sense to rest instead of play on Vivaldi concertos, and most recordings that I know of allow the oboist to rest. A baroque oboe would be better able to play both the tuttis and solo sections without fatigue issues, since the baroque oboe is not played maintaining as high a breath pressure.

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I think your observation is correct. In the Baroque period, although the solo instrument(s) were generally scored in the tutti sections, there are a few works where they are in the habit of laying out until their featured entry.