Концерт для скрипки с оркестром Ми минор Мендельсона

1844 composition by Felix Mendelssohn

Felix Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto in E minor, Op. 64, MWV O 14, is his last concerto. Well received at its premiere, it has remained among the most prominent and highly regarded violin concertos. It holds a central place in the violin repertoire and has developed a reputation as an essential concerto for all aspiring concert violinists to master, and usually one of the first Romantic era concertos they learn. A typical performance lasts just under half an hour. Mendelssohn originally proposed the idea of the violin concerto to Ferdinand David, a close friend and then concertmaster of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra. Although conceived in 1838, the work took another six years to complete and was not premiered until 1845. During this time, Mendelssohn maintained a regular correspondence with David, who gave him many suggestions. The work itself was one of the foremost violin concertos of the Romantic era and was influential on many other composers. Although the concerto consists of three movements in a standard fast–slow–fast structure and each movement follows a traditional form, it was innovative and included many novel features for its time. Distinctive aspects include the almost immediate entrance of the violin at the beginning of the work (rather than following an orchestral preview of the first movement's major themes, as was typical in Classical era concertos) and the through composed form of the concerto as a whole, in which the three movements are melodically and harmonically connected and played attacca (each movement immediately following the previous one without any pauses). Many violinists have recorded the concerto and it is performed in concerts and classical music competitions. It was recorded by Nathan Milstein and the New York Philharmonic as an album and released as the first LP record upon the format's introduction in 1948.

Following his appointment in 1835 as principal conductor of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Mendelssohn named his childhood friend Ferdinand David as the orchestra's concertmaster. The work's origins derive from this professional collaboration. In a letter dated 30 July 1838, Mendelssohn wrote to David: "I should like to write a violin concerto for you next winter. One in E minor runs through my head, the beginning of which gives me no peace." The concerto took another six years to complete. There are many possible reasons for the delay, including self doubt, Nevertheless, Mendelssohn and David kept up a regular correspondence during this time, The autograph score is dated 16 September 1844, but Mendelssohn was still seeking advice from David until its premiere.

The work is scored for solo violin and a standard orchestra of its period, consisting of two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets in A, two bassoons, two natural horns, two natural trumpets, timpani, and strings. The melody is initially played by the woodwinds with the soloist providing a pedal note on an open G string. The tune is played by the solo violin itself before a short codetta ends the exposition section of the opening movement. The opening two themes are then combined in the development section, where the music builds up to the innovative cadenza, which Mendelssohn wrote out in full rather than allowing the soloist to improvise. This serves as a link to the recapitulation, where the opening melody is played by the orchestra, accompanied by the continuing ricochet arpeggios by the soloist. During the recapitulation, the opening themes are repeated with the second theme being played in the E major before returning to E minor for the closing of the movement. The music gathers speed into the coda, which is marked "Presto", and located before the recapitulation. Joshua Bell performs the concerto with his own cadenza. The violin concerto stands out from previous concertos with its connected movements. The linking was designed to eliminate applause between movements. This would have come as a surprise to Mendelssohn's audience, who, unlike today's, were used to applauding between movements. By the end of the nineteenth century, the piece was already considered one of the greatest violin concertos in the repertoire. This has led to its becoming virtually ubiquitous in the discography of concert violinists, even including those who were only active at the very dawn of recorded sound and of whom very little recorded music exists, such as Eugène Ysaÿe. Even so, it remains technically challenging and is generally considered to be as difficult as many other famous counterparts.