Saint-Saëns composed his Introduction and Rondo capriccioso in the 1860s, during what was perhaps the sunniest period of his life—when he had begun to settle into the life of a full-time composer and keyboard virtuoso. Not yet 30 years old, he had already distinguished himself in instrumental music, and he was forging new paths, especially for the solo concerto. (His operas were not to follow until several years later.) In 1863 he composed the Introduction and Rondo capriccioso for his friend, the teenaged violin virtuoso Pablo de Sarasate, for whose astonishing virtuosity Saint-Saëns had already tailored his A-major Violin Concerto. But in addition to demonstrating the violinist’s skill, the Introduction and Rondo also shows off Saint-Saëns’s melodic and symphonic gift, as well as the dash and verve of his spirit.

The idea of a two-movement solo structure such as this, with a slow introduction followed by a quick “main” movement, stems historically from opera—specifically from the cabaletta-style aria found in Rossini and Bellini, which often consisted of two or more sections of radically varying character. Saint-Saëns marks his Introduction with the word “malinconico” (melancholy); after the violin sings its brief, plaintive tune, the capricious Rondo provides the soloist with ample opportunity to dazzle.

                                                                             —Paul J. Horsley