SKU: HL.49014914

ISBN 9790220117602. 8.25x11.75x0.534 inches.

SKU: BR.PB-15155

In Cooperation with G. Henle Verlag

ISBN 9790004215609. 10 x 12.5 inches.

Many well-known violinists such as the dedicatee Pablo de Sarasate, together later with Eugene Ysaye and Jacques Thibaud, included in their repertoires Camille Saint-Saens' concert piece composed in 1863. Even today, concert life is hard to imagine without the Introduction et Rondo capriccioso. The highly virtuosic work already inspired critics and audiences during the composer's lifetime; reported about the premiere in 1867 was: The Introduction and the Rondo capriccioso for the same instrument are both original and charming, and Maestro Sarasate, who was in his element here, admirably made the most of it. And a few years later, a music critic described the work as a kind of fantasy waltz in the Spanish style and with a most bewitching effect. After the first performances in 1867, despite success, the work's score and orchestral parts had little chance of publication due to concert companies' reluctance. In 1869 the Paris publishing house G. Hartmann merely published an arrangement for violin and piano produced by the composer's friend Georges Bizet. The orchestral score and parts were first published after the Paris publishing house Durand had acquired publication rights in 1875. The present edition published in collaboration with the G. Henle Verlag is the first critical edition of the work.

SKU: BT.EMBZ14893

The concerto was inspired by István Várdai's play and is dedicated to him. The triple movement structure and the character of the movements follow the patterns of classical concertos, while the thematic connections spanning the movements rather reflect the structural principles of Romantic symphonies. In the first movement, which resembles the form of a sonata, the characters of the themes are spectacularly separated. The motif of the main theme, constructed with glissandos, is supplemented by a theme the composer refers to as a motif of fate, and the two together form a significant contrast with the minor theme with its lyrical tone and the playful, ending themeresembling a children's song. The contrasts between depth and height, as well as darkness and light, have a significant role in all three movements. The music of the first movement gradually rises to increasingly bright and higher regions, the gloomy atmosphere of the marginal parts in the second movement is offset by the tune's transcendental light in its central part, while the rondo theme of the third movement with its 6/8 metre dance-like character is supplemented with motifs of a contrasting nature from the earlier movements.