Romance for Violin and Orchestra No. 2 in F Major

Despite possessing an opus number indicating that it was first published in 1805, Beethoven’s Romance for Violin and Orchestra No. 2 was almost certainly written much earlier, in 1798. There is also speculation that it might have originally been intended to form the slow movement of a Violin Concerto in C major that Beethoven never completed. Whatever the case, there is little doubt that the second Romance is a wonderfully expressive piece of music which fully exploits the solo violin’s capacity for sustaining long-breathed, singing musical lines. The overall structure of the work is relatively easy to follow. It’s dominated by a recurring melody first heard in the violin at the opening and then repeated in the orchestra. This idea frames two contrasting episodes: the first exploits virtuosic leaps and florid runs in the violin; the second is more dramatic and agitated in mood. The closing bars of the work are particularly magical, with the violin reaching its highest register, playing a three-note descending phrase that is echoed by the woodwinds and then by all the strings.