Accompanied by the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, the Dutch classical violin concert and recording artist Janine Jansen performs Johannes Brahms’ Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 77 at Concertgebouw Amsterdam. Conductor: Bernard Haitink.
Johannes Brahms’ Violin Concerto
The concerto was composed in 1878 and dedicated to his friend Joseph Joachim, the Hungarian violinist, conductor, composer, and teacher. The work was premiered in Leipzig on January 1, 1879, by Joachim.
Joseph Joachim told the guests at his 75th birthday party:
Brahms conducted the premiere. It is Brahms’s only violin concerto, and, according to Joachim, one of the four great German violin concerti. The Germans have four violin concertos. The greatest, most uncompromising is Beethoven’s. The one by Brahms vies with it in seriousness. The richest, the most seductive, was written by Max Bruch. But the most inward, the heart’s jewel, is Mendelssohn’s.
The work follows the standard concerto form, with three movements in the pattern quick-slow-quick:
- Allegro non troppo (D major)
- Adagio (F major)
- Allegro giocoso, ma non troppo vivace – Poco più presto (D major)
It is scored for solo violin and an orchestra consisting of flutes, oboes, clarinets, and bassoons; 4 horns in D, F, and E, 2 trumpets in D, timpani, and strings.
Sources
- Violin Concerto (Brahms) on Wikipedia
- César Franck: Violin Sonata [Argerich, Capuçon] - September 8, 2024
- Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 23 “Appassionata” [Anna Fedorova] - September 7, 2024
- Telemann: Concerto for Recorder and Viola da Gamba [Barrocada] - September 3, 2024