Classical Girl’s Top 10 [and then some] violin concertos

Violin Concerto CD               

The violin concerto repertoire is so rich and satisfying, I’m embarrassed to admit that, prior to becoming an adult beginner on the violin in 2005, I was only familiar with a few of them. This, from a self-proclaimed classical music fanatic. Whoops.

But maybe that’s you, too. Now, I know some of my readers are violin peeps and this list of top violin concertos will not produce any surprises, but I have a hunch there are plenty of you out there, more ballet-oriented, who are more familiar with piano repertoire. Or maybe you’re a newcomer to classical music in general. This is the list for you.

One thing I should add. Most of these hail from the Romantic Era and beyond. You therefore won’t see works before 1806, before Beethoven’s opus burst forth, eras that would include concertos by Mozart (five of them, written in his late teens), Vivaldi (something like 230) Bach (two for solo violin, one for two violins). Also I didn’t include Paganini (who wrote six) who, like Beethoven, sort of straddled the Classical and Romantic Era.

So, without further ado, here are my personal faves, in no particular order. If the composer has more than one violin concerto, I’ve highlighted the one I prefer. If you click on the composer’s name, it will bring you to a YouTube link of the concerto.

The Classical Girl

Classical Girl’s Top 10 [and then some] violin concertos

  1. Tchaikovsky (in D major, Op. 35, 1878)
  2. Brahms (in D major, Op. 77, 1878)
  3. Sibelius (in D minor, Op. 47, 1905 – A staggering piece of work – my blog + link HERE)
  4. Bruch (No. 1 in G minor, Op. 26, 1867; No. 2 in D minor, Op. 44, 1878; No. 3 in D minor, Op. 58, 1891 – and all three are worthy! Blogged about Bruch HERE)
  5. Korngold (in D major, Op. 35, 1945)  Just blogged about this one, in 2022, HERE.
  6. Beethoven (in D major, Op. 61, 1806)
  7. Barber (Op. 14, 1939)
  8. Mendelssohn (in E minor, Op. 64, 1845)
  9. Saint-Saëns (No. 3 in B minor; his No. 1 and No. 2 aren’t often performed)

And this is where it gets very tricky, because there are SO many wonderful violin concertos still, so here are ten contenders for my 10th spot:

  1. Shostakovich (No. 1 in A minor, Op. 77, 1955; No. 2 in C sharp minor, Op. 129, 1967)
  2. Britten (Op. 15, 1939)
  3. Dohnányi (No. 1 in D minor, Op. 27, 1915: No. 2 in C minor, Op. 43, 1950)
  4. Bartok (No. 1, BB 48a, 1908, but published posthumously, 1956; No. 2, BB 117, 1938)
  5. Dvorák (in A minor, Op. 53, 1879)
  6. Wieniawski (No. 1 in F sharp minor, Op. 1853; No. 2 in D minor, Op. 22, 1862
  7. Goldmark (No. 1 in A minor, Op. 28, 1877; he composed a No. 2 that was never published)
  8. Berg (Written in twelve-tone, Op. ?, 1935)
  9. Prokofiev (No. 1 in D major, Op. 18, 1923; No. 2 in G minor, Op. 63, 1935.
  10. Schumann (in D minor, published posthumously) The Stravinsky VC really belongs here but I am sentimental about the Schumann and its otherworldly story – I blogged about it HERE

And yes, I know, you violin peeps are sitting up now, exclaiming, “Wait! No Lalo? No Viotti? No Khachaturian or Elgar?” Glazunov. Hindemith. Ligeti. Nielsen. Szymanowski. Previn. Walton. And Vieuxtemps certainly deserves to be on the list; he wrote a whopping seven violin concertos. And then there are the hard-on-the-ear but well respected concertos that deserve a mention, like the Schoenberg, the Schuman (note, spelled with only one “n,” an important differentiation to recognize). Berg’s concerto, while atonal, somehow manages to conjure something beautifully expressive and bittersweet – no small feat!

And STILL there are more. That’s the fun thing about really getting to know the violin concerto repertoire, and the violin repertoire in general. There are always more treasures to discover.

Give each one a listen and let me know which one is your favorite. As for me, if I had to be stranded on a desert island with a CD player [and somehow, magically, a lifetime supply of batteries] and only three concertos, I think it would have to be the Sibelius, Brahms and Mendelssohn. Yikes. Tough choices. Maybe the Beethoven would have to switch out one of the latter two. With the Tchaikovsky next in line. Only please don’t make me choose.

I could tell a story about each and every one of these concertos and/or their composer’s creative journey, but that would make for a hell of a long blog. Instead I’ll give each one its own blog, at which time I’ll return here and leave the link. In the meantime, here are a few blogs I enjoyed reading that offer great details on their own Top 10 picks (you’ll see a lot of similarities).

  • Stephen Klugewicz at The Imaginative Conservative HERE.
  • Gramophone UK HERE

4 thoughts on “Classical Girl’s Top 10 [and then some] violin concertos”

  1. We are definitely on the same page about violin concertos! I couldn’t leave out Mozart 4&5 or Paganini 1&2 (I adore La Campanella) or Bach’s E Major and A minor plus the Double Violin Concerto in D minor. I can see why you have not included the baroque era, as there are too many to choose from! When I’m practising Vivaldi’s G major VC (Op.3 No. 3) it always lifts my spirits. My number 1 would definitely be Beethoven (as this work features in my novel) but it’s also immortal…

    Reply
    • I love your comments, Ginny. Thanks for sharing! Yes, definitely need to do a “Favorite Violin Concerto” 2.0, for the eras prior to the Romantics!

      Reply
  2. If you don’t know it, a candidate for inclusion in an updated list is Roentgen’s Violin Concerto in a (1902)
    There are at least two performances on YouTube:

    Ragin Wenk-Wolff, Dvořák Symphony Orchestra, Stanislav Bogunia, conductor
    14:07 KxqZnaUQLYE 1. Allegro ben moderato
    09:25 uWEUaQv7MjI 2. Lento
    08:33 He2XHbnZQog 3. Finale: Allegro non troppo

    Liza Ferschtman, Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz, conducted by David Porcelijn
    34:26 Y7La4-Zr0HQ

    (with the full URLs WordPress thought this was spam).

    Reply
    • Kalman, no, I DON’T know of this concerto. Thank you, thank you, for letting me know and giving me information! How annoying that WordPress rejected the URLs as spam. I’m glad you didn’t throw up your hands in frustration and simply not post. I’ll check them out!

      Reply

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