# Best Violin Composer



## Pianoforte

Hi, I've not been around here for ages but will start showing my face again. I'm wondering is there a particular composer who is generally regarded as the best violin concerto composer? Beethoven rules the piano sonata, Mozart rules the piano concerto...is there anyone who is regarded the best when it comes to anything violin related really but in particular the violin concerto?

Thanks,

Jamie


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## Aramis

Paganini? You can talk **** about him, yes - you, there...! - but you can't deny that his violin music is composed with greatest brilliance. Violin Concertos Nos. 1 & 2 are the best, also sonatas for guitar and violin must you check out. 

Karol Szymanowski had a lot of lof for violin and me belives he was one of greatest violin composers of XXth century. Check two violin concertos and "Mythes" for piano and violin.


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## starry

Thread title is a bit misleading if it's just about concerto. If it's just music for solo violin in general there would be several famous contenders, including JS Bach and Mozart (many interesting violin sonatas from him). If it's just the violin concerto though surely the answer would be Vivaldi. He is also a contender for best violin composer overall as well though I haven't heard enough to properly judge on that.


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## jurianbai

I also take Paganini as landmark in violin concerto genre. Before Paganini should be Bach, Vivaldi, Tartini, Viotti and Corelli. After Paganini there should be a lot, like Mendelssohn's, Joseph Joachim's concerto in Hungarian style is quite neglected. Max Bruch also creaed a lot violin orientated like Scottish fantasy and concertos, as well Louis Spohr.


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## Sid James

Probably one of the most "violinistic" concertos of the C20th is by Sibelius, who was himself a brilliant virtuoso. To that I'd add Ernest Bloch, also a great player, whose own concerto & other pieces like the _Hebrew Suite _are excellent pieces. The most difficult C20th violin concerto is without a doubt the Schoenberg, and it's not only very virtuostic (listen to those brilliant cadenzas at the end of each movement), but has passion, drama, and grace. & let's not forget Hindemith, a brilliant violist (& equally violinist) who composed some excellent works, some violin sonatas & a great concerto.


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## Weston

If we are to speak of violin compositions in general, we must give a nod to the great string quartet composers, Haydn, Beethoven, Schubert, Shostakovich, and many others. There would be widely varying opinions on who is the greatest of that crowd.


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## joen_cph

I´m rather on the Anti-Paganini wing; he was of course important as a technical developer of violin playing, but I find that the music and tunes he composed are severely marred by the most heavy and vulgar predictability of that period, even much worse than Rossini, Verdi and Donizetti when they are at their most flat-footed. I once owned a complete recording of the violin concerti, but in spite of being a repertoire-completist in general decided that I couldn´t stand the music and gave the set away. This very rarely happens ... Willl thus stick to the solo capricci just to have examples of the essence of his music and him as a celebrated cultural phenomenon of the age. 

Thanks for this opportunity to promote a largely unknown violin concerto with much more existential and ambitious content than the Paganini divertimento-essercizi: the Pettersson 2nd, which is phenomenal in the Ida Haendel recording (but alas totally disastrous with Ulf Hoelscher). Some likewise severely underrated concerti are those of Babyanian and Taktakishvili, Rosenberg and Rochberg, for example. I tend to agree with Starry and Weston; even Vivaldi is a much, much better composer than Paganini, IMHO.


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## JAKE WYB

Andre said:


> Probably one of the most "violinistic" concertos of the C20th is by Sibelius, who was himself a brilliant virtuoso.QUOTE]
> 
> From Sibelius apart from the concerto, are a number of astonishntly charactestic and beautiful pieces for violin and orchestra - two pairs of shortish pieces - *Two serenades* and* two solemn melodies* - admittedly two crap titles but top notch and haunting violinistic pieces, plus there is the humoreskes which are less interesting and 'lighter' but well written.
> I also heard an early violin sonata which is very nice but hidden amongst all his musty student work of that period - i think Sibelius could be a very vey great violin composer though i would have liked to have seen from him a set of solo pieces in a Bach like idiom becuase that would have brought out some strong and profound music from his pen


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## Sorin Eushayson

Pianoforte said:


> Best Violin Composer


_~Antonio Lucio Vivaldi~_


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## Taneyev

Henryk wieniawski


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## Pianoforte

Thanks for all your suggestions. I have a lot to listen to!


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## Eusebius12

Even if it is somewhat maligned, I cannot go past the Beethoven Violin Concerto as the high mark of the genre. The greatest sonatas for violin and piano are those by Beethoven (Brahms deserves a mention).
I love the two sonatas of Schumann, predictably, but I actually do think they are really fine pieces. The Concerto is coming in from the cold, but the Fantasy is probably a finer piece.


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## World Violist

Um... Johann Sebastian Bach? I've only seen his name once in this thread, in passing at that.

But seriously, when you have some of the greatest masterpieces in all of Western classical music written by a violinist for violinists, you simply have to take that into account. Sorry to disappoint. The Solo violin sonatas and partitas in particular are recognized as masterpieces in their own right, especially the astonishing chaconne from the 2nd partita.


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## Head_case

Aramis said:


> Karol Szymanowski had a lot of lof for violin and me belives he was one of greatest violin composers of XXth century. Check two violin concertos and "Mythes" for piano and violin.


Yes....I'm wholeheartedly of the same opinion too. Perhaps, this was derived by Szymanowski's close relationship to Pawel Kochanski, the premier violinist of Poland at the time. You see some similar points of brilliance in violinists like Ysaye and others, however Szymanowski stands out for me, in terms of having created the two most opulent and rich violin concertos, as well as the D Minor Violin Sonata; Drei Mythes and Nocturne & Tarantella. His is a fascinatingly concise violin oeuvre to grasp; none of this wading through reams of fillers from composers who couldn't edit the chaff from the wheat in their works. That's how concise and brilliant he was.

The Thomas Zehetemair version of the Szymanowski Violin Concertos offers an olive branch to the pro-Paganini camp: he covevrs the Caprices in this album as fillers for the main Szymanowski programme 

Of course, being cut down by illness at the height of his musical integrity didn't help


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## Head_case

Eusebius12 said:


> Even if it is somewhat maligned, I cannot go past the Beethoven Violin Concerto as the high mark of the genre.


That's a shame. Well, not the first bit...I mean...I love Oistrakh's original vinyl recording of the Beethoven Violin Concerto, but then again, there are so many more rich violin concertos after him....Myaskovksy's single violin concerto; Shostakovich'; Prokofiev, Katchachurian and Shebalin's concertos...or Bartok's incredible solo violin sonata....

Something about the 'old world' playing of violin virtuosos like Oistrakh bring a charm to the violin which I really enjoy.


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## World Violist

Eusebius12 said:


> Even if it is somewhat maligned, I cannot go past the Beethoven Violin Concerto as the high mark of the genre. The greatest sonatas for violin and piano are those by Beethoven (Brahms deserves a mention).
> I love the two sonatas of Schumann, predictably, but I actually do think they are really fine pieces. The Concerto is coming in from the cold, but the Fantasy is probably a finer piece.


I almost can't stand the Beethoven violin concerto. I see it as being a low point of Beethoven's more well-known pieces. I don't hear any sort of emotional expressiveness throughout, contrary to people exalting it to the greatest violin concerto. (incidentally, I feel that this is repeatedly thought within Beethoven's oeuvre, most notably the 5th and 9th symphonies--mostly when Beethoven gets all grand and then indulges in it, so people forget about the better symphonies such as the 7th)

I do understand that this is an opinion; I just wonder how much it tends to be influenced by other people glorifying this piece. Kind of reminds me of a thread about great composers people don't like, in which, when opinions against Mozart were voiced, another esteemed member posted an enormous list of quotes glorifying Mozart by everyone from Einstein to Bernstein.


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## Taneyev

I believe I've half a dozen recordings of LvB v.c. I don't like any of them. Some are beautiful violin playing, but the music itself let me totally cold and indifferent. Compàrative with Brahm's, it's a second class.


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## jurianbai

For Beethoven's VC, I think his concept was emphasize more in orchestration. It's also not the great VC in my listening but more enough to be put in the league like Brahms and Mendelssohn. I heard I. Perlman playing (full video on youtube available) and Janine Jansen's, emotional piece.


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## Il Seraglio

World Violist said:


> I almost can't stand the Beethoven violin concerto. I see it as being a low point of Beethoven's more well-known pieces. I don't hear any sort of emotional expressiveness throughout, contrary to people exalting it to the greatest violin concerto. (incidentally, I feel that this is repeatedly thought within Beethoven's oeuvre, most notably the 5th and 9th symphonies--mostly when Beethoven gets all grand and then indulges in it, so people forget about the better symphonies such as the 7th)
> 
> I do understand that this is an opinion; I just wonder how much it tends to be influenced by other people glorifying this piece. Kind of reminds me of a thread about great composers people don't like, in which, when opinions against Mozart were voiced, another esteemed member posted an enormous list of quotes glorifying Mozart by everyone from Einstein to Bernstein.


I never really heard much about his Violin Concerto before first hearing it and warmed to the final movement on pretty much the first listen, although the rest of the concerto took some more time. It might have something to do with the fact that the last movement is so drastically shorter than the others.


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## Argus

World Violist said:


> I almost can't stand the Beethoven violin concerto. I see it as being a low point of Beethoven's more well-known pieces. I don't hear any sort of emotional expressiveness throughout, contrary to people exalting it to the greatest violin concerto. (incidentally, I feel that this is repeatedly thought within Beethoven's oeuvre, most notably the 5th and 9th symphonies--mostly when Beethoven gets all grand and then indulges in it, so people forget about the *less grandiose *symphonies such as the 7th *and 6th*)
> 
> I do understand that this is an opinion; I just wonder how much it tends to be influenced by other people glorifying this piece. Kind of reminds me of a thread about great composers people don't like, in which, when opinions against Mozart were voiced, another esteemed member posted an enormous list of quotes glorifying Mozart by everyone from Einstein to Bernstein.


I pretty much agree with all this except for my minor changes. It's not bad but I feel gets more praise than it deserves, simply due to the fact it was composed by Beethoven.

***Awaits compiled list of quotes from great violinists and composers extolling the greatness of the concerto***


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## Guest

World Violist said:


> I almost can't stand the Beethoven violin concerto. I see it as being a low point of Beethoven's more well-known pieces. I don't hear any sort of emotional expressiveness throughout, contrary to people exalting it to the greatest violin concerto. (incidentally, I feel that this is repeatedly thought within Beethoven's oeuvre, most notably the 5th and 9th symphonies--mostly when Beethoven gets all grand and then indulges in it, so people forget about the better symphonies such as the 7th)
> 
> I do understand that this is an opinion; I just wonder how much it tends to be influenced by other people glorifying this piece. Kind of reminds me of a thread about great composers people don't like, in which, when opinions against Mozart were voiced, another esteemed member posted an enormous list of quotes glorifying Mozart by everyone from Einstein to Bernstein.


I partly agree here. His VC is not the best out there, nor the best of his repertoire. I definitely prefer those of Brahms and Mendelssohn. But I wouldn't describe it as the low point of his well-known pieces. While not as earth-shattering as others in that group, it is certainly a very enjoyable piece.

Regarding the issue of his symphonies, I do agree that, prior to exploring all of them, the 5th was placed by me on a pedestal. As I have listened to others, I still enjoy it, but it does not still control the top spot. The 3rd and 6th have moved ahead of it, as has the 9th. The 9th, while certainly suffering, perhaps, from overexposure, is still an incredible work, one which I still do not tire of listening to. I don't care to quote intellectuals and their opinions on the matter, as I have little use for intellectuals in most instances, and am swayed only by them in giving something a listen. But for me, the 9th has only sounded better to me with each listen. And with some incredible recordings to listen to, it never gets old (Karajan '63, Gardiner, Vanska, Fricsay, Furtwangler, Szell).

Beethoven's best composing for the violin, to me, comes in his violin sonatas, and in his string quartets, more than his violin concerto.


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## Eusebius12

Well I find Beethoven's violin concerto to be grand, masterly, a complete experience, something I cannot say for the Brahms and Mendelssohn. To me, the last movements of both these works are weak and not all that substantial. The rhythm of the Brahms is rather constipated (not unheard of with Brahms) and the Mendelssohn is oversweet and irritatingly _galant_. My personal 2nd favourite concerto (other than the Bach double, even though obviously Baroque concerti are on a completely different scale) is the Elgar.

I must admit I never fail to thrill to the transition between the serenity of the (Beethoven) slow movement and the finale. Yes it does involve a trick Beethoven used quite frequently, but rarely was it bettered. I would say that he bettered the effect in the Emperor, but the Emperor is a grander work involving dare I say it a grander instrument.

Maybe I am biased against the Brahms- I have heard it so often...but it has never really moved me.


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