Beethoven, Violin Concerto

Beethoven's cultural background at the age of seventeen was, of course, neither broad nor deep. But after his mother died in 1787, when he returned to Bonn after his first trip to Vienna – a mere sketch of the future – he had the good fortune to be hired by an intelligent and distinguished widow, Mrs Helene von Breuning, to give music lessons to her four children. The young Ludwig was welcomed in that house as another son and the distinguished lady would become his mentor and teacher, as well as a second mother. There he learned French, perfected his Latin and became acquainted with the masters of German poetry.

The dedicatee
For some time, Beethoven maintained a somewhat more than a friendly interest in one of the daughters, Eleonora, but the relationship did not come to fruition –it was an early sign that, in that area, things were going to prove difficult.
Instead, he established close ties with one of the sons, Stephan von Breuning, about his own age. After moving to Vienna and resuming his friendship with Beethoven – settled there from 1793 – Stephan would become one of those closest to the musician for many years. Ludwig will respond to the affection in 1806 with the dedication of the Concerto for violin and orchestra.

Works of the period
Only four years earlier, Beethoven had written a letter addressed to his two brothers – the famous Heiligenstadt Testament –, where he announced the idea of ending his life, overwhelmed by his progressive deafness. Fortunately, this was not the case  – he did not send the letter either – and two years later the master would add to the universal repertoire no more and no less than the Eroica Symphony, which would be followed by the Triple Concerto, the Appassionata Sonata and the Piano Concerto No. 4, to name some of the most relevant works of that period.

Helene von Breuning

Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in D major, opus 61

To this prolific period belongs the composition of the Concerto for violin and orchestra, the only one written by Beethoven for this instrument. It appears that he did not have a special predilection for it, however, he accepted the commission made by his young friend Franz Clement, at that time concertmaster and conductor of the Vienna Opera.

The work was to be premiered at a benefit performance for Clement on December 23, 1806, at the Theater an der Wien, so the extremely tight deadlines forced Beethoven to work against time, delivering the score very shortly before the evening, leaving Clement almost no time to get ready.

The rescue
According to the story, Clement, annoyed, dared to play a piece of his own between the first and second movements, so that it would be clear what he was capable of. The work was not as successful as expected and was not performed again until 1844, with the twelve-year-old violinist Joseph Joachim as the soloist, conducted by Felix Mendelssohn, who rescued it from undeserved oblivion seventeen years after Beethoven's death.

The rendition is by Itzhak Perlman, accompanied by the Berlin Philharmonic, conducted by Daniel Barenboim.

The movements, described, below the video.

Let's note that there is also a version for piano, requested by the pianist and composer Muzio Clementi, who is still present today for his great pedagogical contribution. But it is performed very occasionally because it does not reach the brilliance achieved by the sonority of the violin in the original work, which has become one of the most important works in the repertoire for solo violin.

Movements:

0:36  Allegro ma non troppo.  This is the longest of the three movements, lasting almost half of the concerto, about 25 minutes, which at the time was considered extreme. Four timpani beats introduce the movement. After a long exposition by the orchestra, the solo violin enters at 3:53 with the first theme that the orchestra has already foreshadowed. The second theme is introduced by bassoon and clarinet at 6:00, which the violin immediately takes over to develop, at 6:09. It is then taken up by the orchestra while the soloist indulges in flourishes. An extended development of the two themes finally gives way to a long cadenza (20:22 to 23:26) that leads into the second, peaceful theme. A vigorous crescendo of the orchestra announces the finale.

25:35  Larghetto (in the video, after an exasperating wait for the audience to stop coughing) The movement, of great musicality, is based on a lyrical melody probably taken from some Russian theme, according to specialists. Without interruption, it connects to the third movement, in:

35:23  Rondo  The theme is introduced by the solo violin. Beethoven did not write any cadenzas for this final movement (we know he was short of time), so this is the opportunity for the soloist to shine with his own inventiveness and technical ability (41:57), which is brilliantly done by the Israeli-American virtuoso Itzhak Perlman. When all appears to be over, the orchestra falls silent and allows the soloist to rehearse a rhythmic echo of the theme (44:53). Two spirited tutti chords mark the end.