In the archetypal romantic violin concerto, a lone violinist stands heroically before an entire orchestra, sometimes as leader, sometimes as follower, sometimes in harmony, sometimes in contentious dispute, but never ignored.
In the archetypal romantic violin concerto, the first movement plumbs the depths of human experience with ponderous thoughts, the second movement reveals a world of heartbreaking beauty, and the third movement exhilarates in an affirmation of life.
Prior to the Opus 61 Violin Concerto in 1806. Beethoven had composed at least part of an early Violin Concerto (Day 24), and Romances for violin and orchestra in F major (Day 109) and G major (Day 146) that were possibly part of a violin concerto, or intended for one.
Unlike Beethoven’s 4th Piano Concerto, the soloist isn’t the first thing we hear in his Violin Concerto. Nevertheless, the concerto begins oddly with mysterious taps on the timpani, and then Beethoven holds off for over three minutes before allowing the solo violin to enter.
Some 25 minutes in length, the first movement of the Violin Concerto has a symphonic grandeur but a relaxed pace, feeling free to explore at leisure a vast musical terrain.
#Beethoven250 Day 201
Violin Concerto in D Major (Opus 61), 1806
Applauding after the first movement is hard to resist after the spectacular performance by Liza Ferschtman in Amsterdam.
To some analysts, the achingly blissful slow movement of the Violin Concerto sounds “free form”; others perceive a theme and variations. Owen Jander finds a 10-measure strophic form or chaconne reminiscent of the very recent WoO 80 Variations (Day 200).
The pastoral character of this slow movement is above all the result of the extraordinary serene atmosphere that pervades almost every measure of the piece. That atmosphere, although it owes a great deal to the lyricism of the music, to the soft dynamics and the transparent scoring, ultimately is generated by the very slow harmonic rhythm that governs the progress of this piece from beginning to end…. In listening to it as a chaconne, the work actually becomes more beautiful.
In addition, Jander finds within this slow movement a “quasinarrative character” related to Rousseau’s description of the musical Romance. For a detailed analysis, see “Form and Content in the Slow Movement of Beethoven’s Violin Concerto,”.
A brief cadenza at the end of the slow movement of the Violin Concerto leads us right into the finale — a rollicking rondo country dance that includes the concerto’s third cadenza (or third and fourth if another is snuck in earlier in the movement as some violinists enjoy doing).
Beethoven completed his Violin Concerto shortly before it was premiered on 23 December 1806. It was the last composition of a very productive year that also included the Appassionata, the revised Leonore, the 4th Piano Concerto, three Razumovsky Quartets, and 4th Symphony. Wow!