The Violin Concerto, one of the four greatest of the 19th century, was Mendelssohn's last completed orchestral work, and thus stands – together with Symphony No.3 – defiant against any claim that Mendelssohn's creative faculties declined in his last decade. Like other violin concertos it is a tribute to the violinist who inspired it: Ferdinand David, close friend of the composer who had appointed him leader of his Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra back in 1836. It was only natural that Mendelssohn should write him a concerto, and ever since the idea was first mooted in 1838 the two of them worked long and hard together, David advising on many technical details. A first version was ready in 1844, but a further six months of revisions followed, including a significant extension to the cadenza, before Mendelssohn was satisfied. Finally the concerto was premiered by David in March 1845 (though Mendelssohn was not in Leipzig at the time, and the orchestra was conducted by Niels Gade) and published a few weeks later in May. Such was its success that it was repeated in one of the first concerts of the following season, already in October, this time with Mendelssohn conducting. Just two years later the concerto stood once again on the programme; but this time it was David who was not available, so he sent his 14-year-old pupil Joseph Joachim to play in his stead. Thus are founded the great traditions of virtuoso violin playing.

sources

A  Autograph score of original version (1844), in the Biblioteka Jagiellońska, Krakow (shelf mark Mus. ms. autogr. Mendelssohn), published in facsimile by Laaber in 2010

B  Copyist's score with Mendelssohn's pencil revisions to final version (1845), in the Biblioteka Jagiellońska, Krakow (shelf mark Mus. ms. autogr. Mendelssohn 39), viewable online

P  First edition, published in parts by Breitkopf & Härtel, Leipzig in 1845

E  First edition score, published by Breitkopf & Härtel in 1862

Br  Full score edited by Julius Rietz, published by Breitkopf & Härtel c.1874 as part of its Gesamtausgabe

EE  Eulenburg miniature score