Saint-Saint--Saint--: Introduction and roamed whimsical

Tonality

The minor; the end opens to the largest.

Instruments

• Solista: violin.
• Orchestra: wood to two, tubes, trumpets, timbales and rope.

From the atril

Saint- Saint- Saint- wrote this piece in 1863 for the young violinist Navarro Pablo Sarasatewho premiered it and took it to concert rooms throughout Europe. It was the beginning of a long friendship: years later I would also dedicate his third violin concert.

The work was thinking of Sarasate's style: a slow and melancholic introduction, with wide singing, and a whimsical rounding with a clear Spanish air, which forces the soloist to show agility, bow blows and double strings. The final coda, at full speed, is a proof of virtuosism that remains one of the great moments of the violin repertoire.

What to hear

• The melancholic melody of the violin in the introduction.
• The syncopate theme of the rondó, of Spanish taste.
• The final coda, with the soloist at the limit of speed.