Violin concerto

David Oistrakh playing a violin concerto

A violin concerto is a concerto for solo violin (occasionally, two or more violins) and instrumental ensemble, customarily orchestra. Such works have been written since the Baroque period, when the solo concerto form was first developed, up through the present day. Many major composers have contributed to the violin concerto repertoire, with the best known works including those by Bach, Bartók, Beethoven, Brahms, Bruch, Mendelssohn, Mozart, Paganini, Prokofiev, Shostakovich, Sibelius, Tchaikovsky, and Vivaldi. Traditionally a three-movement work, the violin concerto has been structured in four movements by a number of modern composers, including Dmitri Shostakovich, Igor Stravinsky, and Alban Berg (in the latter, the first two and last two movements are connected, with the only break coming between the second and third). In some violin concertos, especially from the Baroque and modern eras, the violin (or group of violins) is accompanied by a chamber ensemble rather than an orchestra—for instance, Vivaldi's L'estro armonico, originally scored for four violins, two violas, cello, and continuo, and Allan Pettersson's first concerto, for violin and string quartet.

Selected list of violin concertos

The following concertos are presently found near the center of the mainstream Western repertoire. For a more comprehensive list of violin concertos, see List of compositions for violin and orchestra.

• John Adams
  • Violin Concerto (1993)
• Malcolm Arnold
  • Concerto for Two Violins and String Orchestra (1962)
• Johann Sebastian Bach
  • Violin Concerto in A minor, BWV 1041 (1717–1723)
  • Violin Concerto in E major, BWV 1042 (1717–1723)
  • Double Violin Concerto in D minor, BWV 1043 (1723)
  • Violin Concerto in D minor, BWV 1052
  • Violin Concerto for 3 violins in D major, BWV 1064
  • Violin Concerto in G minor, BWV 1056
• Samuel Barber
  • Violin Concerto, op. 14 (1939)
• Béla Bartók
  • Violin Concerto No. 1 (1908)
  • Violin Concerto No. 2 (1938)
• Ludwig van Beethoven
  • Violin Concerto in D major, op. 61 (1806)
• Alban Berg
  • Violin Concerto (1935)
• Johannes Brahms
  • Violin Concerto in D major, op. 77 (1878)
• Max Bruch
  • Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor, op. 26 (1867)
  • Violin Concerto No. 2 in D minor, op. 44 (1878)
  • Violin Concerto No. 3 in D minor, op. 58 (1891)
• Henri Dutilleux
  • L'Arbre des Songes (1985)
• Antonín Dvořák
  • Violin Concerto in A minor, op. 53 (1879–1880)
• Edward Elgar
  • Violin Concerto in B minor, op. 61 (1910)
• Eduard Franck
  • Violin Concerto in e minor, op. 30 (1855/1861)
  • Violin Concerto in D major, op. 57 (1875)
• Richard Franck
  • Violin Concerto in D major, op. 43 (1906)
• Alexander Glazunov
  • Violin Concerto in A minor, op. 82 (1904)
• Karl Goldmark
  • Violin Concerto No. 1 in A minor, op. 28 (1877)
• Joseph Joachim
  • Violin Concerto No. 3 in G major
• Mieczysław Karłowicz
  • Violin Concerto in A major, op. 8
• Aram Khachaturian
  • Violin Concerto in D minor, op. 46 (1940)
• Erich Wolfgang Korngold
  • Violin Concerto in D major, op. 35 (1945)
• Édouard Lalo
  • Violin Concerto in F major, op. 20 (1874)
  • Symphonie Espagnole (1874)
• Lowell Liebermann
  • Concerto for Violin and Orchestra op. 74 (2001)
• Karol Lipiński
  • Violin Concerto No. 1 op. 14 in F-sharp minor
  • Violin Concerto No. 2 "Militaire" op. 21 in D major
  • Violin Concerto No. 3 op. 24 in E minor
  • Violin Concerto No. 4 op. 32 in A major
• Felix Mendelssohn
  • Violin Concerto in D minor (1822)
  • Violin Concerto in E minor, op. 64 (1844)
• Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
  • Violin Concerto No. 1 in B-flat major, K. 207 (1773)
  • Violin Concerto No. 2 in D major, K. 211 (1775)
  • Violin Concerto No. 3 in G major, K. 216, Strassburg (1775)
  • Violin Concerto No. 4 in D major, K. 218 (1775)
  • Violin Concerto No. 5 in A major, K. 219, Turkish (1775), with alternative Adagio in E, K.261 (added 1776)
• Nikolai Myaskovsky
  • Violin Concerto in D Minor, op. 44

• Carl Nielsen
  • Violin Concerto, op. 33 (1911)
• Niccolò Paganini
  • Violin Concerto No. 1 in D major, op. 6, MS 21 (ca. 1811–17)
  • Violin Concerto No. 2 in B minor, op. 7, MS 48, La Campanella (1826)
  • Violin Concerto No. 3 in E major, MS 50 (ca. 1826–30)
  • Violin Concerto No. 4 in D minor, MS 60 (ca. 1829–30)
  • Violin Concerto No. 5 in A minor, MS 78 (1830)
  • Violin Concerto No. 6 in E minor, op. posth., MS 75—probably the first to be written; only the solo part survives
• André Previn
  • Violin Concerto "Anne-Sophie"
• Sergei Prokofiev
  • Violin Concerto No. 1 in D major, op. 19 (1917)
  • Violin Concerto No. 2 in G minor, op. 63 (1935)
• Max Reger
  • Violin Concerto in A Major op. 101 (1907–1908)
• Camille Saint-Saëns
  • Violin Concerto No. 1 in A major, op. 20 (1859)
  • Violin Concerto No. 2 in C major, op. 58 (1858)
  • Violin Concerto No. 3 in B minor, op. 61 (1880)
• Arnold Schoenberg
  • Violin Concerto (1936)
• Robert Schumann
  • Violin Concerto, WoO 23 (1853)
• Dmitri Shostakovich
  • Violin Concerto No. 1 in A minor, op. 77 (1948, rev. 1955 as op. 99)
  • Violin Concerto No. 2 in C-sharp minor, op. 129 (1967)
• Jean Sibelius
  • Violin Concerto in D minor, op. 47 (1904)
• Igor Stravinsky
  • Violin Concerto (1931)
• Karol Szymanowski
  • Violin Concerto No. 1, op. 35 (1916)
  • Violin Concerto No. 2, op. 61 (1932-1933)
• Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
  • Violin Concerto in D major, op. 35 (1878)
• Henri Vieuxtemps
  • Violin Concerto No. 1 in E major, op. 10 (1840)
  • Violin Concerto No. 2 in F-sharp minor, op. 19 (ca. 1835–36)
  • Violin Concerto No. 3 in A major, op. 25 (1844)
  • Violin Concerto No. 4 in D minor, op. 31 (ca. 1850)
  • Violin Concerto No. 5 in A minor, op. 37, Grétry (1861)
  • Violin Concerto No. 6 in G major, op. 47/op. posth. 1 (1865–1870)
  • Violin Concerto No. 7 in A minor, op. 49/op. posth. 3
• Antonio Vivaldi — many, particularly:
  • L'estro Armonico, op. 3 (1711)—twelve concertos
  • La stravaganza, op. 4 (ca. 1714)
  • The Four Seasons (ca. 1725)—four concertos, the first four numbers of Il cimento dell'armonia e dell'inventione, op. 8
  • Concerto in A Minor, a piece commonly played by level 4 or 5 violinists
• William Walton
  • Violin Concerto (1939)
• Henryk Wieniawski
  • Violin Concerto No. 1 in F-sharp minor, op. 14 (1853)
  • Violin Concerto No. 2 in D minor, op. 22 (1862)
• Malcolm Williamson
  • Violin Concerto (1963–1964)

Selected list of other works for violin and ensemble

• Béla Bartók
  • Violin Rhapsody No. 1
  • Violin Rhapsody No. 2
• Ludwig van Beethoven
  • Romance No. 1 in G major, op. 40 (1798–1802)
  • Romance No. 2 in F major, op. 50 (1798–1802)
• Hector Berlioz
  • Rêverie et Caprice
• Leonard Bernstein
  • Serenade, after Plato's Symposium (1954)
• Ernest Bloch
  • Baal Shem
• Max Bruch
  • Romance in A minor, op. 42 (1874)
  • Scottish Fantasy, op. 46 (1880)
  • Adagio Appassionato in C-sharp minor, op. 57 (1890)
  • Schwedische Tanze, op. 63/2 (1892)
  • In memoriam, op. 65 (1893)
  • Serenade in A minor, op. 75 (1899–1900)
  • Konzertstück in F-sharp minor, op. 84 (ca. 1911)
• Ernest Chausson
  • Poème, op. 25 (1896)
• John Corigliano
  • Chaconne from "The Red Violin"
• Antonín Dvořák
  • Romance in F minor, op. 11 (1877)
• Richard Franck
  • Serenade in A major, op. 25 (1896)
• Édouard Lalo
  • Symphonie Espagnole, op. 21 (1874)
• Jules Massenet
  • Méditation from Thaïs (1894)
• Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
  • Concertone in C major, for two violins and orchestra, K. 190 (1774)
  • Adagio in E major, K. 261 (1776)
  • Rondo in B-flat major, K. 261a (1776)
  • Rondo in C major, K. 373 (1781)

• Arvo Pärt
  • Fratres for violin, string orchestra and percussion (1992)
  • Darf ich... for violin, bells and string orchestra (1995/1999)
• Maurice Ravel
  • Tzigane (1924)
• Camille Saint-Saëns
  • Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso in A minor, op. 28 (1863)
  • Romance in C major, op. 48 (1874)
  • Morceau de concert in G major, op. 62 (1880)
  • Havanaise in E major, op. 83 (1887)
  • Caprice andalous in G major, op. 122 (1904)
• Pablo de Sarasate
  • Zigeunerweisen, op. 20]] (1878)
  • Carmen Fantasy, op. 25 (1883)
  • Navarra for two violins and orchestra, op. 33 (1889)
  • Miramar-Zortzico, op. 42 (1899)
  • Introduction and Tarantella, op. 43 (1899)
• Franz Schubert
  • Konzertstück in D major, D. 345 (1816)
  • Rondo in A major, D. 438 (1816)
  • Polonaise in B-flat major, D. 580 (1817)
• Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
  • Sérénade mélancolique
  • Souvenir d'un lieu cher (written for violin and piano in 1878; arranged for violin and orchestra by Alexander Glazunov in 1896)
  • Valse-Scherzo
• Daniel Theaker
  • Violin Concerto
• Ralph Vaughan Williams
  • The Lark Ascending (1914)
• Henryk Wieniawski
  • Légende in G minor, op. 17 (1859)
  • Fantasy brillante on Gounod's "Faust", op.20

See also

• Violin
• Violin sonata
• Viola concerto
• Cello concerto
• Double concerto for violin and cello
• Piano trio

• Bassoon concerto
• Clarinet concerto
• Flute concerto
• Harpsichord concerto

• Oboe concerto
• Bass oboe concerto
• Piano concerto
• Concerto for orchestra

External links

• Anthology of 20th century violin concertos