Violin Concerto (Brahms)

The Violin Concerto in D major by Johannes Brahms, his opus 77, is one of the best-known of all violin concertos.

Related Topics:
Johannes Brahms - Opus - Violin concerto

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It follows the standard concerto form, with three movements in the pattern quick-slow-quick:

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• Allegro ma non troppo
• Adagio
• Allegro giocoso, ma non troppo vivace

Originally, however, the work was planned in four movements like the second piano concerto. The middle movements, one of which was intended to be a scherzo, were replaced with what Brahms called a "feeble Adagio."

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The work was written in 1878 for the violinist and friend of Brahms, Joseph Joachim, who was the dedicatee. Brahms asked Joachim's advice on the writing of the solo violin part. The most familiar cadenzas used in the work are by Joachim, though a number of people have provided alternatives, including Leopold Auer.

Related Topics:
Joseph Joachim - Cadenza - Leopold Auer

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The work was premiered by Joachim in Leipzig on January 1, 1879. Various modifications were made between then and the work's publication by Fritz Simrock later in the year.

Related Topics:
Leipzig - Fritz Simrock

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Critical reaction to the work was mixed: the conductor Hans von Bülow said the work was not so much for violin as "against the violin". Henryk Wieniawski called the work "unplayable", and the violin virtuoso Pablo de Sarasate refused to play it because he didn't want to "stand around while the oboe played the only melody in the piece."

Related Topics:
Hans von Bülow - Henryk Wieniawski - Pablo de Sarasate

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Against these critics, modern listeners often feel that Brahms was not really trying to produce a conventional vehicle for virtuoso display, as his peers perhaps had expected him to; Brahms had higher musical aims. Similar criticisms have been voiced over the string concerti of other great composers, such as Ludwig van Beethoven's violin concerto or Hector Berlioz's Harold in Italy.

Related Topics:
Ludwig van Beethoven - Violin concerto - Hector Berlioz - Harold in Italy

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