Violin Concerto No. 3 (Saint-Saëns)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Violin Concerto No. 3 in B minor, Op. 61, by Camille Saint-Saëns is a piece for violin and orchestra written in March 1880. Saint-Saëns dedicated the concerto to fellow composer-virtuoso Pablo de Sarasate, who performed the solo part at the premiere in October 1880 in Hamburg.[1]
Violin Concerto | |
---|---|
by Camille Saint-Saëns | |
Key | B minor |
Opus | 61 |
Period | Romantic |
Genre | Concerto |
Composed | 1880 (1880) |
Movements | 3 |
Scoring | Violin & Orchestra |
Premiere | |
Date | October 15, 1880 (1880-10-15) |
Location | Hamburg |
Conductor | Adolf Georg Beer |
Performers | Pablo de Sarasate, Philharmonisches Orchester Hamburg |
Even though the third violin concerto seems to impose fewer technical demands on the soloist than its predecessors, its melodic invention and impressionistic subtlety present significant interpretive challenges. This stress is most notable in the second movement and the chorale of the finale, which is reminiscent of the conclusion of the Fourth Piano Concerto.[2] Possibly because of this, the Third Concerto along with the Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso, Op. 28, and the Havanaise, Op. 83 have endured as the major concertante works for violin by Saint-Saëns still heard regularly today.[3]