Violin Concerto

Tchaikovsky ca. 1875 The Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 35 was the only concerto for violin composed by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. Composed in 1878, it is one of the best-known violin concertos.

The concerto was composed in Clarens, Switzerland, where Tchaikovsky was recovering from the fallout of his ill-fated marriage. The concerto was influenced by Édouard Lalo's Symphonie espagnole and was composed with the help of Tchaikovsky's pupil and probable former lover, Iosif Kotek. Despite Tchaikovsky's original intention to dedicate the work to Kotek, he instead dedicated it to Leopold Auer due to societal pressures. Auer, however, refused to perform it, and the premiere was given by Adolph Brodsky in 1881 to mixed reviews. The piece, which Tchaikovsky later rededicated to Brodsky, has since become a staple of the violin repertoire. The concerto has three movements, is scored for solo violin and orchestra, and typically runs for about 35 minutes.