Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in A Major

Amazingly penetrating and clear, melodious and expressive, the music of Mieczysław Karłowicz is related to the folk tradition of Polish art of singing. This is true for the majority of his famous works, which include the Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in A Major, Opus 8, composed in 1902. It is a work cast in romantically elated and rhapsodic vein, written in three movements: the Allegro Moderato, the Romance (Andante) and the Finale – Vivace assai, which arouses a sense of vigour and fresh youthful beauty. The concerto is among the composer's most optimistic and life-affirming works. Its most attractive sides are represented by the melodic opulence and song-like melodiousness, characteristic of purely Slavonic music. With his ability to bring together expressiveness and virtuosity, in his violin concerto Karłowicz approximates the music of Tchaikovsky. At the same time, the composer's work testifies to the fact that he is a worthy successor of the virtuosic traditions of the violin art of Poland, which had already delighted audiences ever since the times of Wieniawski. The merits of the concerto, written by Karłowicz, include continuity of development, the clarity of the form and the striking organic relation between the solo and the orchestra part. In addition, the work reveals the composer's excellent knowledge of the technical and expressive possibilities of the violin, although there is nothing surprising about that: the musician was a remarkable violinist, successfully graduated from the Conservatoire courses, who performed marvellously the Tchaikovsky Concerto at his matriculation.