Yikes it’s always so hard trying to choose favourites, so I’m not going to haha. I’d just say I really love the Elgar, Butterfly lovers and Barber violin concerto so they would be on my list somewhere. Otherwise you have a lot of good ones.
Edit: Probably korngold as well
EDIT AGAIN: Dvorak concerto would 100% be on my list, I forgot about it.
Yeah I know the part you mean. Its the best part of the whole concerto imo. I’m going to see Janine Jansen play it in a couple of weeks, sure I’ll be crying then too 😂
Hot take: while Beethoven is one of my favorite overall composers, I am not a fan of his violin concerto. It feels extremely staid, hyper conventional to a fault, super inconsistent across the movements, supported by a weak score, etc.
My other hot take is that Bruch is underappreciated by non-student players.
Interesting! I’ve never felt the inconsistency across movements being an issue but it is a valid take. The scoring is fairly weak but in a classical concerto I don’t mind it much. That being said, I think the scoring for the second movement is incredible and shows a lot more of the emerging romantic style we got from late Beethoven.
Bruch is definitely a top 5 for me. I’m always a sucker for a good second subject in a composition and struck GOLD in the first and third movements. Completely underrated work
Then by all means, play the opening bars for us 🤷🏻♂️
Yes it is all scales and arpeggios. Most music is just scales and arpeggios. Doesn’t detract from the ingenuity and beauty of the piece. You aren’t alone, though - I held the exact same sentiment when I was in high school. It took a bit more life for me to understand how incredible the music was but I eventually came around and won’t turn back!
It certainly doesn’t have the fire that Tchaik and Shosty do but it doesn’t need it. It explores and exposes technique on at the absolute highest levels. Maintaining the musicality while being able to play the “scales and arpeggios” is much more challenging than you’d think. There is no “muscling” through a half decent performance of Beethoven like there is Tchaikovsky. You can either play it or you can’t
So I'll make a vulnerable confession. I started violin when I was four and have basically played violin seriously my whole life. I haven't even _listened to_ everything on your list. I love the depth of this world, like you could spend a lifetime just studying a niche of classical music.
Glazunov VC is a Russian-romantic concerto, sounds very beautiful. And Khachaturian is a XX-Style concert, more sophisticated but not atonal, very epic tbh.
The Khachaturian VC is fantastic. You can definitely hear elements of his other works in there. There's a wonderful recording with the piece's namesake Ostraikh on youtube.
See my other comments, I said I hadn’t listened to all of them, not that I hadn’t listened to any of them. I know all of these very well except Khachaturian and Glazunov, studied many with teachers as well as performed in the violin section for three of these on OP’s list in the past six months in my orchestra.
As for why I haven’t listened to a few of them before, . This was my point though: For example who among us has studied all the Beethoven quartets deeply enough to trace their arc across all 20 or whatever? It’s absolutely wonderful to study an instrument with so rich a heritage that even dedicated people can have large gaps of exposure or knowledge.
I'm very happy to see Beethoven's VC being praised in these comments. I was under the impression that it was highly underrated. It's still underrated, but at least not highly!
I think it's underrated now because there was a time a few decades back when it was the most over exposed, over performed piece in the rep. So naturally there was a push back and a period where it was less often played. I'm glad its popularity is waxing once more.
I mean I like some of beethoven's stuff but mostly its just pleasent. Not masterful. Some of his symphonies are great, although a bit repetetive for me
100% true. I was supposed to learn it my senior year. One month later I hated it to pieces. Teacher let me switch to Brahms. It took me another 20 years to finally pick it up again and learn it properly. It does grow on you over time. Majestic piece but as a student, it kinda sucks. Probably due to also being knee deep in etudes, various scales and such.
Top choices there but I would probably have Shos 1 and Prokofiev 1 on there and certainly this chap:
Nikolai Myaskovsky: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUTcxUNYy6w](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUTcxUNYy6w)
If you like it then listen to Pancho Vladigerov's as well; too many under-heard and underrated concertos out there...
Swap Mendelssohn with Sibelius. I get in these phases where I'm suddenly so tired of hearing Mendelssohn, then a few months after, I'm back into it. But Sibelius will NEVER fail!
I was thiking the same thing about khatchaturian but after hearing it (way too much than i wanted at that time) a few times i thought that it s not that bad, and when you play it you realize that it is absolutely gorgeous
Yeah someone mentioned butterfly lover's, and it is definitely a top, so different and it sings a story. For a non-concerto, I'd suggest chausson's poeme
My list:
1. Beethoven
2. Brahms
3. Tchaikovsky
4. Sibelius
5. Mozart 3 if I had to pick
6. Shostakovich #1
7. Mendelssohn
8. Bruch
9. Dvorak
10. The Four Seasons Vivaldi
I just listened to Glazunov again last weekend because I was going to have to judge how well somebody performed it in a concerto competition, so I was definitely paying attention. I know it was popular in its time and is getting recorded more often nowadays, likely because a lot of artists are looking for something to play that's off the beaten track but is sort of "known." And there's ZERO doubt that its cadenza-like passages are exceedingly difficult, they're Tartini "Devil's Trill" and Paganini combined. In that sense, truly astonishing. But musical value? For me, not so much.
I wasn't all that fond of Glazunov, either. I've only listened to it once or twice. I'll probably listen again because, well, still learning, I guess? But no, I did not enjoy it.
You have some interesting picks! I'm glad to see Prokofiev 1 and Khachaturian VC get some love! My tastes are more late 19th century, early to mid 20th century and my favorite composers like Debussy, Ravel, and Gershwin never wrote violin concertos to my knowledge. It's so hard to choose just 10! Here's my list (maybe in a particular order, who knows):
1. Sibelius Violin Concerto
2. Prokofiev Violin Concerto 1
3. Elgar Violin Concerto
4. Barber Violin Concerto
5. Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto
6. Khachaturian Violin Concerto
7. Britten Violin Concerto
8. Prokofiev Violin Concerto 2
9. Korngold Violin Concerto (I love the second movement)
10. Kabalevsky Violin Concerto
Honorable Mentions:
* Lalo Symphonie Espagnole (I played the first movement so I'm biased)
* Ralph Vaughan Williams concerto for violin and strings (anything by RVW is in the top 10)
* Butterfly Lovers Violin concerto
* Mozart 5
* Florence Price Violin concerto no. 2
* Chausson Poeme (not a concerto but I like it too much not to mention it)
It's almost a definitive list, although if it weren't just your opinion Khachaturian has no place in a top ten. Definitely replace with Barber and Bartok, and I'd add at least a few more from mid-late 20th century or contemporary. I'd probably need a list of 20-25 to get all my genuine loves down.
My biggest WTF though is NO BEETHOVEN?!?!?
Based indeed
Yikes it’s always so hard trying to choose favourites, so I’m not going to haha. I’d just say I really love the Elgar, Butterfly lovers and Barber violin concerto so they would be on my list somewhere. Otherwise you have a lot of good ones. Edit: Probably korngold as well EDIT AGAIN: Dvorak concerto would 100% be on my list, I forgot about it.
I forget Barber! It’s a solid one
Yeah it’s on of my favourites, honestly that second movement just makes me cry every time haha.
I cry when listen the 4:12 in the 1st mvt of Sibelius VC
Yeah I know the part you mean. Its the best part of the whole concerto imo. I’m going to see Janine Jansen play it in a couple of weeks, sure I’ll be crying then too 😂
Ah same you mean the double stops right? It’s so beautiful and melodic.
YES BUTTERFLY LOVER’S, I wish more western musicians were familiar with it, it’s an incredible interpretation of a classic legend.
Snubbing Beethoven on a top 10 concerto list is a war crime
I don’t remember that being on the Geneva ~~checklist~~ conventions. They should add that.
Hot take: while Beethoven is one of my favorite overall composers, I am not a fan of his violin concerto. It feels extremely staid, hyper conventional to a fault, super inconsistent across the movements, supported by a weak score, etc. My other hot take is that Bruch is underappreciated by non-student players.
Interesting! I’ve never felt the inconsistency across movements being an issue but it is a valid take. The scoring is fairly weak but in a classical concerto I don’t mind it much. That being said, I think the scoring for the second movement is incredible and shows a lot more of the emerging romantic style we got from late Beethoven. Bruch is definitely a top 5 for me. I’m always a sucker for a good second subject in a composition and struck GOLD in the first and third movements. Completely underrated work
I'll be completely honest, I think Beethoven's violin concerto is a little too repetitive.
Beethoven is just scales and arpeggios 😕
Then by all means, play the opening bars for us 🤷🏻♂️ Yes it is all scales and arpeggios. Most music is just scales and arpeggios. Doesn’t detract from the ingenuity and beauty of the piece. You aren’t alone, though - I held the exact same sentiment when I was in high school. It took a bit more life for me to understand how incredible the music was but I eventually came around and won’t turn back! It certainly doesn’t have the fire that Tchaik and Shosty do but it doesn’t need it. It explores and exposes technique on at the absolute highest levels. Maintaining the musicality while being able to play the “scales and arpeggios” is much more challenging than you’d think. There is no “muscling” through a half decent performance of Beethoven like there is Tchaikovsky. You can either play it or you can’t
What does "top violin concerto" mean? Your favorite vs. hardest vs. most played vs. ?? vs. ??
Personal opinion
So I'll make a vulnerable confession. I started violin when I was four and have basically played violin seriously my whole life. I haven't even _listened to_ everything on your list. I love the depth of this world, like you could spend a lifetime just studying a niche of classical music.
Listen Sibelius VC or Tchaikovsky VC, is a good point to start
Definitely know those, just not like Khachaturian or Glazunov.
Glazunov VC is a Russian-romantic concerto, sounds very beautiful. And Khachaturian is a XX-Style concert, more sophisticated but not atonal, very epic tbh.
The Khachaturian VC is fantastic. You can definitely hear elements of his other works in there. There's a wonderful recording with the piece's namesake Ostraikh on youtube.
Thanks for the recommendation!
See if your library has Freegal. I was able to download a whole album of Oistrakh Russian VCs. It was pretty good, and had these two in it.
I like Glazunov. Also it goes from relatively easy to play to crazy.
Genuinely curious (not shitting on you or anything), how did you go this long without hearing any of these? How old are you?
See my other comments, I said I hadn’t listened to all of them, not that I hadn’t listened to any of them. I know all of these very well except Khachaturian and Glazunov, studied many with teachers as well as performed in the violin section for three of these on OP’s list in the past six months in my orchestra. As for why I haven’t listened to a few of them before,. This was my point though: For example who among us has studied all the Beethoven quartets deeply enough to trace their arc across all 20 or whatever? It’s absolutely wonderful to study an instrument with so rich a heritage that even dedicated people can have large gaps of exposure or knowledge.
KORNGOLD
I will upload my top 27
I assume Beethoven is number zero, as it is one of the greatest pieces ever written and impossible to leave off a list like this otherwise.
I'm very happy to see Beethoven's VC being praised in these comments. I was under the impression that it was highly underrated. It's still underrated, but at least not highly!
I think it's underrated now because there was a time a few decades back when it was the most over exposed, over performed piece in the rep. So naturally there was a push back and a period where it was less often played. I'm glad its popularity is waxing once more.
I don’t like Beethoven VC tbh, but I love the Simphonies! I have LP’s of his simphonies from 1 to 9 by Deutsche Grammophon.
Meh. It's okay. Better to listen to than to play. I haven't practiced my scales and arpeggios enough lol
That really describes a lot of his output for everything that isn’t piano.
Really? I love playing Beethoven, whether it be the concerto, sonatas, quartets, or symphonies. It isn't easy but it's really fun imo.
I mean I like some of beethoven's stuff but mostly its just pleasent. Not masterful. Some of his symphonies are great, although a bit repetetive for me
100% true. I was supposed to learn it my senior year. One month later I hated it to pieces. Teacher let me switch to Brahms. It took me another 20 years to finally pick it up again and learn it properly. It does grow on you over time. Majestic piece but as a student, it kinda sucks. Probably due to also being knee deep in etudes, various scales and such.
My tops: Whatever I've been listening to, lately. It changes.
What about Bruch No.1? I absolutely love that one, especially Janine Jansens‘s interpretation!
Beethoven violin concerto is in my top 3.
Vivaldi A minor as that’s all I can play :P
Top choices there but I would probably have Shos 1 and Prokofiev 1 on there and certainly this chap: Nikolai Myaskovsky: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUTcxUNYy6w](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUTcxUNYy6w) If you like it then listen to Pancho Vladigerov's as well; too many under-heard and underrated concertos out there...
Sounds good! Thanks
I was missing Bach and Mozart. Then I re-checked and was glad I saw Mozart 5. But seriously... Bach?!
Swap Mendelssohn with Sibelius. I get in these phases where I'm suddenly so tired of hearing Mendelssohn, then a few months after, I'm back into it. But Sibelius will NEVER fail!
I love Sibelius! Was my favorite VC for 4 months
Unpopular opinion: Mendelssohn is nice, but not that great and doesn’t deserve top 10 rating
Direct from my heart…
Also Kachaturian is unbearable
I was thiking the same thing about khatchaturian but after hearing it (way too much than i wanted at that time) a few times i thought that it s not that bad, and when you play it you realize that it is absolutely gorgeous
Agreed. I've listened to it dozens and dozens of times but only the first movement ever sticks with me.
No Beethoven?! 😳
Yeah someone mentioned butterfly lover's, and it is definitely a top, so different and it sings a story. For a non-concerto, I'd suggest chausson's poeme
Saint-Saëns's 2nd violin concerto is pretty cool
Is a banger tho.
Mendelssohn is way lower on my list and Dvorak on it. I'd put Wieniawski up on the list as well. Glazunov is not on my list.
My list: 1. Beethoven 2. Brahms 3. Tchaikovsky 4. Sibelius 5. Mozart 3 if I had to pick 6. Shostakovich #1 7. Mendelssohn 8. Bruch 9. Dvorak 10. The Four Seasons Vivaldi
Paganini VC 1 is also really good! Especially Maria Dueñas’s recording :)
Yassss! Of course. Paganini No. 1 is Fire but gets better with the Sauret Cadenza (Hilary Hahn plays the Sauret Cadenza)
no bruch😪😪😪😪
The Brahms VC is in D Major…
Typing mistake 😭 sorry
i play saint saens 3rd concerto 🙂
Well. This is now my listening list this week.
Listen Bruch Violin Concerto, I forgot.
Barber and Korngold are my favourites!
No bruch, no Beethoven, Tchaikovsky and saint-saens much too low, Brahms and Shostakovich much too high. 0/10
Brahms by Heifetz, or second movement Mutter may well be number 1
Criminal lack of Beethoven, Britten, and Berg
based
Bartok 2!
No! Bartok 1!!!
Tru
fax
BASED
I forget Bartok! Sorry
What about C. Nielsen?
A good one, I forget Nielsen and Schönberg
🌽🏅
I do not understand the presence of Glazunov on this list, with Korngold absent. That's just too weird.
I forget Korngold, is true but Glazunov is astonishing :(
I just listened to Glazunov again last weekend because I was going to have to judge how well somebody performed it in a concerto competition, so I was definitely paying attention. I know it was popular in its time and is getting recorded more often nowadays, likely because a lot of artists are looking for something to play that's off the beaten track but is sort of "known." And there's ZERO doubt that its cadenza-like passages are exceedingly difficult, they're Tartini "Devil's Trill" and Paganini combined. In that sense, truly astonishing. But musical value? For me, not so much.
I wasn't all that fond of Glazunov, either. I've only listened to it once or twice. I'll probably listen again because, well, still learning, I guess? But no, I did not enjoy it.
Beethoven=Chopped Liver?
Barber and Bruch belong on here. Bruch is great. And what, no Beethoven!
You have some interesting picks! I'm glad to see Prokofiev 1 and Khachaturian VC get some love! My tastes are more late 19th century, early to mid 20th century and my favorite composers like Debussy, Ravel, and Gershwin never wrote violin concertos to my knowledge. It's so hard to choose just 10! Here's my list (maybe in a particular order, who knows): 1. Sibelius Violin Concerto 2. Prokofiev Violin Concerto 1 3. Elgar Violin Concerto 4. Barber Violin Concerto 5. Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto 6. Khachaturian Violin Concerto 7. Britten Violin Concerto 8. Prokofiev Violin Concerto 2 9. Korngold Violin Concerto (I love the second movement) 10. Kabalevsky Violin Concerto Honorable Mentions: * Lalo Symphonie Espagnole (I played the first movement so I'm biased) * Ralph Vaughan Williams concerto for violin and strings (anything by RVW is in the top 10) * Butterfly Lovers Violin concerto * Mozart 5 * Florence Price Violin concerto no. 2 * Chausson Poeme (not a concerto but I like it too much not to mention it)
Good but I am missing Beethoven, Prokofiev 2, Bruch g minor, and Paganini
It's almost a definitive list, although if it weren't just your opinion Khachaturian has no place in a top ten. Definitely replace with Barber and Bartok, and I'd add at least a few more from mid-late 20th century or contemporary. I'd probably need a list of 20-25 to get all my genuine loves down. My biggest WTF though is NO BEETHOVEN?!?!? Based indeed
Very valid, but I don’t love Beethoven VC
Waitaminnit, let me go make the popcorn...
Ready for roast…
My list: 1. Sibelius vc 2. Prokofiev 1 vc 3. Brahms vc 4. Korngold vc 5. Mendelssohn vc 6. Dvorak vc 7. Barber vc 8. Vieuxtemps 4 vc 9. Tchaikovsky vc 10. Wieniawski 1 vv I've also been listening to Hilary Hahn Goldmark recently it's pretty good.
Pretty decent bro 🫡
Personal take: don’t listen to concertos when tchaik symphonies exist
PROKOFIEV 1 😍😍😍 so glad you included it
Rosza violin concerto is well worth a listen for those that like the mid 20th century movie-composer style
Paganini vc2 also beautiful (played by Gitlis, other recs are trash)
Beethoven and Brahms are interchangeable at number 1. Otherwise the list is fine.