Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 61

The concerto opens not with the soloist but with five quiet taps on the timpani, a rhythm that keeps resurfacing throughout the first movement, sometimes gently, sometimes as a hard jolt from the full orchestra. The violin enters late and high, almost as an afterthought, and much of the movement favors long, singing lines over flashy runs, though a demanding cadenza, where the soloist plays alone, does arrive before the close. The second movement is a set of hushed variations built on a simple, hymn-like tune, with the orchestra carrying the melody while the violin decorates it from above in a nearly continuous, floating line. There is no full stop at the end; instead a short, questioning passage for solo violin leads directly into the finale. That last movement is a rondo, meaning its bouncy main tune keeps returning between contrasting episodes, and it has the character of an outdoor dance, lighter and more playful than what came before, ending the piece with warmth rather than fireworks.

Beethoven wrote this concerto in 1806 for the violinist Franz Clement, concertmaster at Vienna's Theater an der Wien, finishing it so close to the premiere that Clement reportedly had to sight-read parts of it. The first performance took place in Vienna in December 1806, and by most accounts it did not make a strong impression; contemporary reports suggest the audience found it long and undramatic compared to what a concerto was expected to deliver. The piece was set aside for years afterward. Its fortunes changed decades later when the young violinist Joseph Joachim championed it in the 1840s, playing it repeatedly across Europe and helping establish it as a cornerstone of the violin repertoire. It has since become one of the most performed and recorded violin concertos, admired for its unusually spacious, songful approach to the form.