The Romantic Concertos — Mendelssohn, Brahms, Tchaikovsky

From “Technique” to “Music”

After Paganini showed the extreme of technique, the Romantic composers aimed for great concertos that united virtuosity with musical content. The result was the group of masterpieces that remain the central repertoire of the concert hall.

These are works of a lifetime — a single composer writing only one or two in a life. They are fewer than piano concertos, but each carries a weight of a different order.

Mendelssohn — the E minor Concerto (1844)

Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)’s Violin Concerto in E minor, Op. 64 is the most beloved of the Romantic concertos:

• The solo violin sings out the theme immediately at the opening (no orchestral preamble) — revolutionary at the time
• An innovative structure of three movements played without a break
• Sweet, flowing melody; a perfect balance of virtuosity and lyricism
• Written with the advice of the master Ferdinand David

One of the “four great violin concertos” (Mendelssohn, Beethoven, Brahms, Tchaikovsky). A work of exceptional popularity, serving as both an entry point and a master’s calling card.

Brahms — the D major Concerto (1878)

Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)’s Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 77 is a symphonic, weighty great concerto:

• Dedicated to his close friend, the master Joseph Joachim, and written with his advice
• Its orchestra is so eloquent that it was called “a concerto written against the violin” (a killer for violinists)
• The beautiful oboe theme of the second movement, the Hungarian passion of the third
• In the same D major as Beethoven, consciously its successor

Brahms’s concerto has technique entirely serving the music — difficult technique that does not stand out, dissolving into symphonic music.

Tchaikovsky — the D major Concerto (1878)

Pyotr Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)’s Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 35 is a contrasting masterpiece completed in the same year, 1878, as Brahms’s:

• Brilliant, passionate, full of Russian song
• The master Leopold Auer, asked to give the premiere, at first refused it as “unplayable” (later revising his view)
• A work of a twisting history, its dedication changing hands several times
• A frenzied Russian dance in the finale

Combining brilliant virtuosity (the Paganini lineage) and dense lyricism (the Romantic), it remains top repertoire for competitions and concerts today.

Bruch — the G minor Concerto (1866)

Max Bruch (1838-1920)’s Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor, Op. 26 is also a staple of staples:

• Familiar, sweet melodies; popularity second only to the “four greats”
• Bruch himself felt complex about this one work’s fame all his life (as his other works were buried)
• The master Joachim cooperated in the revision

Joachim — the Collaboration of Composer and Performer

Behind the Romantic concertos was one master — Joseph Joachim (1831-1907):

• Dedicatee and advisor of the Brahms concerto, collaborator on Bruch’s revision
• The one who revived Bach’s solo works in concert (see the fourth article)
• Who established the Beethoven concerto as a work of art
• Himself composed cadenzas (the improvisatory highlights for the soloist) still used today

“The composer writes for the master, and the master nurtures the work” — this collaboration produced the Romantic concerto. Joachim is its symbolic figure.

The Four Great Violin Concertos

The four great concertos of exceptional standing in today’s concerts:

Composer	Key	Year	Character
Beethoven	D major	1806	the symphonic king (fifth article)
Mendelssohn	E minor	1844	the height of flow and lyricism
Brahms	D major	1878	weighty, symphonic
Tchaikovsky	D major	1878	brilliant, passionate, Russian

Adding Bruch, Sibelius, and Dvořák forms the group of “principal concertos.” Violinists are judged by how they play these.

It Was Also a Golden Age of Chamber Music

The Romantic era was rich not only in concertos but in chamber music:

• The string quartets of Beethoven, Schubert, and Brahms
• Violin sonatas (three by Brahms, Franck, Fauré)
• Piano trios and piano quintets — the violin as the core of chamber music

The violin was at the center of Romantic music on both fronts — solo (concerto) and ensemble (chamber and orchestra).

From This Article to the Next

We have traced the great Romantic concertos and the Joachim who supported them. The next article turns to the turn of the century — where Sibelius’s concerto (1905) shows the final form of the Romantic concerto, and the Second Viennese School (Schoenberg, Berg) steps into the 20th-century strings beyond tonality. And the arrival of recording technology transforms what it means to be a performer.