Violin Concerto

A work of rhapsodic, wistful lyricism in an age of steely modernity, Barber’s Violin Concerto is among the composer’s best-loved achievements, and a pillar of the 20th-century violin repertoire. The score was commissioned in 1939 by Samuel Fels, an American soap magnate, for Odessa-born violin prodigy Iso Briselli. When Briselli received the completed score of the first two movements, he noted Barber’s customary lyricism, and asked that the finale showcase the instrument’s virtuosic side. Barber complied, but did so to such a degree that Briselli complained that the third movement didn’t fit with the other two, and bowed out of the premiere. Instead, the violinist Albert Spalding introduced it in 1941 with conductor Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra. The concerto begins with a sweetly expressive melody for the soloist that spans nearly 27 measures. The secondary theme evokes a Scotch snap, a short-long rhythmic pattern that is characteristic of the strathspey, a Scottish folk dance. In the second movement, the plaintive main theme is introduced with a lengthy oboe solo before the soloist takes it up and the music builds to an agitated middle section. The “Presto” finale is a perpetual-motion thrill ride, laced with offbeat accents and jazzy cross-rhythms in the orchestra.