Sibelius was a passionate violinist who had for many years entertained hopes of becoming a soloist or, at least, a professional orchestral player. He was therefore bitterly disappointed when he failed his audition for the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra; it seems his technique was adequate for the job – indeed, unlike Mendelssohn or Brahms he later had no need of any David or Joachim to assist him with writing a thoroughly idiomatic solo part for this concerto – but the panel was worried about his nerves in performance, and indeed in later life he would habitually overcome the problem by taking a stiff drink before conducting a concert. The concerto was written between Symphonies 2 and 3; sketches date back to 1901 when he was in Rapallo working on No.2, but it was not completed until 1904 when it was premiered in Helsinki with a local violin teacher Viktor Nováček (no relation of Ottakar of the Perpetuum mobile) as soloist, Sibelius conducting. He played it badly (this original version was even more difficult than the revision) and the concerto was poorly received. As so often Sibelius put it aside for a considerable period of time, revising it apparently in one fell swoop in 1905. This final version was first performed in Berlin in October 1905, Richard Strauss conducting, by the orchestra's leader Karl Halir, but it seems he was hardly more persuasive (it is sad to report that Joachim found the concerto “scheußlich und langweilig” (horrendous and boring), but doubtless, as Sibelius remarked, the great violinist was “no longer in tune with the spirit of our time”) and the work took a long time to establish itself. Not until Heifetz recorded it in the 1930s did the piece gain the firm foothold among the greatest violin concertos that it enjoys today.

Since the symphonies are so bristling with problems and errors, it is surprising to find that the concerto is textually relatively straightforward. This is especially fortunate since A is lost.

sources

X  Autograph score of original version of the work, with substantial differences, in the National Library of Finland, Helsinki

Sk  Some surviving sketches towards A

A  Autograph score of final version, lost