Max Bruch composed his Violin Concerto at the beginning of 1866, and it was withdrawn by the composer after a single performance on 24 April.
Dissatisfied, Bruch sent the manuscript to the great violin virtuoso Joseph Joachim for his comments. Joachim replied with a detailed list of proposals for the work’s improvement (some of which were taken up) to which Bruch responded with a list of diffident queries and suggestions.
At last, having been rewritten, in Bruch’s words, “at least half a dozen times”, the concerto was completed to his satisfaction and given its first performance in its final and definitive version on January 7, 1868 in Bremen with Karl Reinthaler as conductor and Joachim as Violin soloist.
Today this is still played at concerts, although less frequently than the Mendelssohn, Tchaikovsky, Brahms, and Beethoven works.
Here is Ms. Jansen in the Bruch concerto:
