The Violin Concerto No. 3 by Camille Saint-Seans was composed in 1880, dedicated to and premiered by the wildly famous Spanish violinist and composer Pablo de Sarasate (1844 – 1908).
Having already written six previous concertos (piano, violin, and cello), Saint-Saëns had by this time cultivated his talent for writing instantly memorable melodies, and for tailoring his concertos to their specific soloist. This concerto, then, features the rather mercurial temperament of Sarasate,
The first movement skips the usual introduction and dives right in with the solo violin playing a warm melody to a quiet orchestral accompaniment.
The lyrical and gentle second movement present a welcome contrast to the first, and the soloist continues to presents delightful melodies.
The ending passages are breathtakingly lovely, when the oboe takes over the violin’s theme, accompanied by arpeggios in the clarinet and the violin playing harmonics.
The finale is the concerto’s most weighty movement, and turns back to the serious character of the first movement with a very sober recitative-like introduction.
Here is Joshua Bell to play the music for you:
