The Violin Concerto in D minor, Op. 47, was written by Jean Sibelius in 1904.
Sibelius originally dedicated the concerto to the noted violinist Willy Burmester, who promised to play the concerto in Berlin. For financial reasons, Sibelius decided to premiere it in Helsinki, and since Burmester was unavailable to travel to Finland, Sibelius engaged Victor Novacek, a violin teacher at the Helsinki Conservatory. The initial version of the concerto premiered on 8 February 1904, with Sibelius conducting. Novacek played poorly and the premiere performance was a disaster. However, Sibelius had barely finished the concerto in time due for the premiere, most likely because of his alcoholism.
Like most concertos, the work is in three movements:
The first movement, marked Allegro moderato, opens with a cushion of pianissimo strings pulsating gently. The soloist then enters with a characteristic IV-V-I phrase, in D minor G-A-D. The violin announces the theme and is echoed by clarinet briefly, then continues into developmental material. More low woodwind and timpani accompany the soloist in several runs. Almost cadenza-like arpeggios and double stops and more runs are accompanied by more woodwind restatements of the theme. The strings then enter brazenly for the first time, announcing a second theme. Developmental material leads to a cadenza which then opens into the recapitulation. The 'Allegro Molto Vivace' coda ends with restatements of past themes.
Although this movement is mainly melodic, it is still largely virtuosic. Particularly difficult passages include one where the performer must play and maintain a trill with the 1st and 2nd finger, while playing a second moving line on the next-lower string, with the 3rd and 1st fingers. Additionally, nearly the entire end is made up of octave double-stops, which poses a challenge to many players. Other challenges of this movement include very quick slides from first to seventh position (and sometimes across strings), broken chords played at very fast tempi, double-stopped sixths that must be perfectly in tune for the effect to work, and glissandi with double-stops.
Second movement
The second movement ('Adagio di Molto') is very lyrical. A short introduction by two clarinets leads into a singing solo part over pizzicato strings. Beautifully dissonant accompaniments by the brass dominate the first part of the song-like movement. The remarkable middle section has the solo violin playing ascending broken octaves, with the flute as the main voice of the accompaniment, playing descending notes simultaneously.
Third movement
The third movement of the Sibelius Violin Concerto ('Allegro Ma non Tanto', not overly fast) is widely known amongst violinists for its formidable technical difficulty and is most assuredly one of the several greatest concerto movements ever written for the instrument. It has been described as "a polonaise for polar bears" but it also has a warlike quality that evokes a battlefield. It opens with rhythmic percussion and the lower strings for four bars (playing 'eighth note-sixteenth note-sixteenth note' figures), before the violin boldly enters with the first theme on the G string. This first section offers a complete and brilliant display of violin gymnastics with up-bow staccato double-stops and a run with rapid string-crossing, then octaves, that leads into the first tutti. The second theme is taken up by the orchestra and is almost a waltz, and the violin takes up the same theme in variations, with arpeggios and double-stops. Another short section concluding with a run of octaves makes a bridge into a recapitulation of the first theme. Clarinet and low brass introduce the final section. A passage of harmonics in the violin precedes a sardonic passage of chords and slurred double stops. A passage of broken octaves leads to an incredibly heroic few lines of double stops and soaring octaves. A brief orchestral tutti comes before the violin leads things to the finish with a D major scale up, returning down in minor (then repeated). A flourish of ascending slur-separate sixteenth notes, punctuated by a resolute D from the violin and orchestra concludes the concerto.
http://blogs.yahoo.co.jp/hk5studio/archive/2009/1/8
http://blogs.yahoo.co.jp/hk5studio/archive/2010/1/8
http://blogs.yahoo.co.jp/hk5studio/archive/2011/1/8
http://i.yimg.jp/images/auct/blogparts/Category300250White.swf?s=2&cl=4&cid=2084041489&lf=1&di=0&od=1&ti=HK8SOUNDS%2FCC&pt=1&dotyid=aucy%2Fp%2FDR53R3HaV9rsak.SeSlRxw--&sid=2219441&pid=878398084
Sibelius originally dedicated the concerto to the noted violinist Willy Burmester, who promised to play the concerto in Berlin. For financial reasons, Sibelius decided to premiere it in Helsinki, and since Burmester was unavailable to travel to Finland, Sibelius engaged Victor Novacek, a violin teacher at the Helsinki Conservatory. The initial version of the concerto premiered on 8 February 1904, with Sibelius conducting. Novacek played poorly and the premiere performance was a disaster. However, Sibelius had barely finished the concerto in time due for the premiere, most likely because of his alcoholism.
Like most concertos, the work is in three movements:
1.Allegro moderato in D minor and in 2/2 time
2.Adagio di molto in B-flat major and in 4/4 time
3.Allegro, ma non tanto in D major and in 3/4 time
First movement2.Adagio di molto in B-flat major and in 4/4 time
3.Allegro, ma non tanto in D major and in 3/4 time
The first movement, marked Allegro moderato, opens with a cushion of pianissimo strings pulsating gently. The soloist then enters with a characteristic IV-V-I phrase, in D minor G-A-D. The violin announces the theme and is echoed by clarinet briefly, then continues into developmental material. More low woodwind and timpani accompany the soloist in several runs. Almost cadenza-like arpeggios and double stops and more runs are accompanied by more woodwind restatements of the theme. The strings then enter brazenly for the first time, announcing a second theme. Developmental material leads to a cadenza which then opens into the recapitulation. The 'Allegro Molto Vivace' coda ends with restatements of past themes.
Although this movement is mainly melodic, it is still largely virtuosic. Particularly difficult passages include one where the performer must play and maintain a trill with the 1st and 2nd finger, while playing a second moving line on the next-lower string, with the 3rd and 1st fingers. Additionally, nearly the entire end is made up of octave double-stops, which poses a challenge to many players. Other challenges of this movement include very quick slides from first to seventh position (and sometimes across strings), broken chords played at very fast tempi, double-stopped sixths that must be perfectly in tune for the effect to work, and glissandi with double-stops.
Second movement
The second movement ('Adagio di Molto') is very lyrical. A short introduction by two clarinets leads into a singing solo part over pizzicato strings. Beautifully dissonant accompaniments by the brass dominate the first part of the song-like movement. The remarkable middle section has the solo violin playing ascending broken octaves, with the flute as the main voice of the accompaniment, playing descending notes simultaneously.
Third movement
The third movement of the Sibelius Violin Concerto ('Allegro Ma non Tanto', not overly fast) is widely known amongst violinists for its formidable technical difficulty and is most assuredly one of the several greatest concerto movements ever written for the instrument. It has been described as "a polonaise for polar bears" but it also has a warlike quality that evokes a battlefield. It opens with rhythmic percussion and the lower strings for four bars (playing 'eighth note-sixteenth note-sixteenth note' figures), before the violin boldly enters with the first theme on the G string. This first section offers a complete and brilliant display of violin gymnastics with up-bow staccato double-stops and a run with rapid string-crossing, then octaves, that leads into the first tutti. The second theme is taken up by the orchestra and is almost a waltz, and the violin takes up the same theme in variations, with arpeggios and double-stops. Another short section concluding with a run of octaves makes a bridge into a recapitulation of the first theme. Clarinet and low brass introduce the final section. A passage of harmonics in the violin precedes a sardonic passage of chords and slurred double stops. A passage of broken octaves leads to an incredibly heroic few lines of double stops and soaring octaves. A brief orchestral tutti comes before the violin leads things to the finish with a D major scale up, returning down in minor (then repeated). A flourish of ascending slur-separate sixteenth notes, punctuated by a resolute D from the violin and orchestra concludes the concerto.
http://blogs.yahoo.co.jp/hk5studio/archive/2009/1/8
http://blogs.yahoo.co.jp/hk5studio/archive/2010/1/8
http://blogs.yahoo.co.jp/hk5studio/archive/2011/1/8
http://i.yimg.jp/images/auct/blogparts/Category300250White.swf?s=2&cl=4&cid=2084041489&lf=1&di=0&od=1&ti=HK8SOUNDS%2FCC&pt=1&dotyid=aucy%2Fp%2FDR53R3HaV9rsak.SeSlRxw--&sid=2219441&pid=878398084