Concerto in D major for Violin and Orchestra, Op. 61
    I. Allegro ma non troppo
    II. Larghetto
    III. Rondo: Allegro

Composed 1806; Duration: 47 minutes

First BPO Performance: November 9, 1937 (Albert Spalding, violin; Franco Autori, conductor)
 
Last BPO Performance: November 19-20, 2016 (Tianwa Yang, violin; JoAnn Falletta, conductor) 

Felix Mendelssohn’s reputation as a composer overshadows the lasting work he did as a conductor, championing his contemporaries and popularizing languishing composers, notably Bach. It’s not as if Beethoven’s reputation ever suffered, but his violin concerto had essentially been collecting dust for four decades when Mendelssohn brought it back to life. Conducting the London Philharmonic Society in 1844 with 12-year-old soloist Joseph Joachim, Mendelssohn permanently reintroduced Beethoven’s now-staple violin concerto to the repertoire.

Beethoven was still a fresh face in Vienna when he first heard the delicate virtuosity of the teenage Franz Clement in 1794. Beethoven was making a name for himself by improvising on the keyboard to impress wealthy benefactors and taking composition lessons with Haydn, all along making as many friends as he could. A decade later, Clement performed his own violin concerto on the same program that Beethoven conducted the premiere of his third symphony. Clement commissioned Beethoven for a concerto, which Clement reportedly sight-read in performance a year later. This may have led to the unsuccessful premiere, and in any case, no one—including Beethoven—thought much about the concerto again until Mendelssohn. 

By 1806, Beethoven was in what is considered his middle period: not the experimental Beethoven of the next decades, but no longer a student, this period was one of maturation and self-realization. His only opera, Fidelio, and his third symphony had raised his stock, his middle quartets (“Razumovsky”) were from the same year, and his fifth symphony was around the corner. The concerto portrays Beethoven as comfortable with broad strokes and large forms, and its length and ensemble size were symphonic in scale. 

Beethoven the radical is present in the opening strokes of the murmuring timpani. This strange but deliberate gesture leads to a wind chorale. The introductory section only flirts with melody at first, but upon the violin entrance, the themes are poured over with endless curiosity and symphonic breadth. 

The middle Larghetto is a series of variations on a sweetly intimate theme, first presented by hushed strings. As the theme is passed around the orchestra, the soloist only provides ornate commentary, eventually presenting an emotive melody of their own. A forte exclamation from the strings, followed by a brief cadenza, marks a seamless transition to the finale. The Rondo is dominated by a joyous “hunting horn” theme that alternates with charming, virtuosic passages, including a cadenza that has undergone numerous famous reinventions.