Violin Concerto No. 1 (Haydn)
Encyclopedia
The Violin Concerto
No. 1 in C major
by Joseph Haydn
, fatto per il luigi, (Hob.
VIIa:1) was written in the 1760s (maybe in 1765) for a well-known violinist of the time, Alois Luigi Tomasini who was just back from Italy and soon became the concertmaster
of the Esterházy orchestra
.
The piece has three movements, each written in sonata form
, like the first cello concerto from that time.
In the first movement, the violin solo enters with the theme using full-sounding double stop
s in a major key. The second movement,which is in the subdominant
key of F major
is a beautiful cantilena. The Finale is full of fast runs, double stops and major changes in both volume and pitch. This indicates that this radiantly festive work was conceived to display the particular strength of Tomasini.
None of Haydn's violin concertos exist today in autograph form. This work went unpublished until the mid-twentieth century and has come down to violinists in only very few copies (eight manuscripts).
Violin concerto
A violin concerto is a concerto for solo violin and instrumental ensemble, customarily orchestra. Such works have been written since the Baroque period, when the solo concerto form was first developed, up through the present day...
No. 1 in C major
C major
C major is a musical major scale based on C, with pitches C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. Its key signature has no flats/sharps.Its relative minor is A minor, and its parallel minor is C minor....
by Joseph Haydn
Joseph Haydn
Franz Joseph Haydn , known as Joseph Haydn , was an Austrian composer, one of the most prolific and prominent composers of the Classical period. He is often called the "Father of the Symphony" and "Father of the String Quartet" because of his important contributions to these forms...
, fatto per il luigi, (Hob.
Hoboken-Verzeichnis
The Hoboken-Verzeichnis is the catalogue of over 750 works by Joseph Haydn as compiled by Anthony van Hoboken.Unlike Ludwig von Köchel's catalogue of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's works, or Otto Erich Deutsch's catalogue of Franz Schubert's works, which are both arranged chronologically by date of...
VIIa:1) was written in the 1760s (maybe in 1765) for a well-known violinist of the time, Alois Luigi Tomasini who was just back from Italy and soon became the concertmaster
Concertmaster
The concertmaster/mistress is the spalla or leader, of the first violin section of an orchestra. In the UK, the term commonly used is leader...
of the Esterházy orchestra
Orchestra
An orchestra is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. The term orchestra derives from the Greek ορχήστρα, the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus...
.
The piece has three movements, each written in sonata form
Sonata form
Sonata form is a large-scale musical structure used widely since the middle of the 18th century . While it is typically used in the first movement of multi-movement pieces, it is sometimes used in subsequent movements as well—particularly the final movement...
, like the first cello concerto from that time.
- Allegro moderatoTempoIn musical terminology, tempo is the speed or pace of a given piece. Tempo is a crucial element of any musical composition, as it can affect the mood and difficulty of a piece.-Measuring tempo:...
- Adagio
- Finale: Presto
In the first movement, the violin solo enters with the theme using full-sounding double stop
Double stop
A double stop, in music terminology, is the act of playing two notes simultaneously on a melodic percussion instrument or stringed instrument...
s in a major key. The second movement,which is in the subdominant
Subdominant
In music, the subdominant is the technical name for the fourth tonal degree of the diatonic scale. It is so called because it is the same distance "below" the tonic as the dominant is above the tonic - in other words, the tonic is the dominant of the subdominant. It is also the note immediately...
key of F major
F major
F major is a musical major scale based on F, consisting of the pitches F, G, A, B, C, D, and E. Its key signature has one flat . It is by far the oldest key signature with an accidental, predating the others by hundreds of years...
is a beautiful cantilena. The Finale is full of fast runs, double stops and major changes in both volume and pitch. This indicates that this radiantly festive work was conceived to display the particular strength of Tomasini.
None of Haydn's violin concertos exist today in autograph form. This work went unpublished until the mid-twentieth century and has come down to violinists in only very few copies (eight manuscripts).