Johannes Brahms was born in Hamburg, Germany, on May 7, 1833, and died in Vienna, Austria, on April 3, 1897. The first performance of the Violin Concerto took place at the Gewandhaus in Leipzig, Germany, on January 1, 1879, with Joseph Joachim as soloist and the composer conducting. In addition to the solo violin, the Concerto is scored for two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, four horns, two trumpets, timpani, and strings. Approximate performance time is thirty-eight minutes.

During the years 1877 to 1879, Johannes Brahms enjoyed summer vacations in Pörtschach, a tiny Austrian village on Lake Wörth. Brahms found the tranquil and picturesque locale a source of musical inspiration. In the summer of 1877, Brahms wrote to the eminent music critic, Eduard Hanslick: “The Wörthersee is untrodden ground, with melodies flying so fast that you need to watch that you don’t step on any of them.” 

It was in Pörtschach that Brahms created such works as his Second Symphony (1877), the G-Major Violin Sonata (1878-9), and the Two Piano Rhapsodies (1879). During his second Pörtschach summer, Brahms also composed his magnificent Violin Concerto.

Brahms composed the Violin Concerto for his dear friend, the Austro-Hungarian virtuoso violinist, composer and conductor, Joseph Joachim. Brahms, who frequently sought his friend’s counsel and advice, forwarded the solo violin part of the Concerto’s first movement to Joachim on August 22, 1878. Correspondence between the two continued throughout the year.

On December 12, just a few weeks before the anticipated New Year's Day premiere, Brahms wrote to Joachim: “I send you the part herewith and agree to your alterations. The orchestral parts will be ready for Jan. 1st in case you play it in Leipzig. If so, I will meet you in Berlin a few days before...” 

Despite the minimal amount of remaining preparation time, Joachim agreed to give the premiere as scheduled. Joachim also composed the first-movement cadenza that, to this day, remains the preferred version among soloists.

The world premiere of the Brahms Violin Concerto took place at the Gewandhaus in Leipzig on New Year’s Day, 1879. Joachim, to whom Brahms dedicated the work, was the soloist. The premiere, conducted by Brahms, was far from an unqualified triumph. Perhaps the audience was confused by the unusual prominence of the orchestra, which prompted Joseph Hellmesberger to dub the work a concerto “not for, but against the violin.” 

Violinist Bronisław Huberman took a somewhat different view, stating that the Brahms Concerto was “for violin against orchestra—and the violin wins!” To be sure, the close partnership between soloist and orchestra is one of the outstanding elements in this masterpiece.

Brahms and Joachim continued to work on revisions to the score, finally published in October of 1879. And in time (thanks in great part to Joachim’s sterling advocacy), the Brahms D-Major secured its place as one of the greatest violin concertos, a veritable Mt. Everest of technical and interpretive challenges. As with many of Brahms’s finest works, it is also a brilliant and immensely satisfying synthesis of Classical form and Romantic passion.

The Concerto is in three movements. The first (Allegro non troppo) begins in traditional fashion, with an orchestral exposition of the movement’s principal themes. The soloist makes a fiery, dramatic entrance. The remainder of the movement features striking contrasts and brilliant passages for the soloist. The oboe introduces the unforgettable central melody of the Concerto’s beautiful slow-tempo movement (Adagio). Many have viewed the vigorous rondo finale (Allegro giocoso, ma non troppo vivace) as a tribute by Brahms to Joachim’s Hungarian origins.