# Johannes Brahms: Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 77 Premiered January 1, 1879, in Leipzig, with the violinist Joseph Joachim and the composer conducting the Gewandhaus Orchestra. In the 19th century the concerto was often shorter, lighter, and less "serious" than a symphony—the orchestra serving largely as a canvas against which a star soloist could show off their flashiest techniques. The great exceptions were the concerti of Brahms's hero, Beethoven, which are more like symphonies in scope and subject. In these works, the orchestra is not a deferential accompanist but a dramatic foil, sometimes supporting and sometimes challenging the soloist, who becomes a protagonist of a Romantic narrative of struggle and triumph. Brahms took up this tradition and pushed it even further in his only Violin Concerto. The story of struggle began with the composition itself, which was the result of an arduous collaboration with his friend, the great violinist Joseph Joachim. Across months of correspondence, they debated, negotiated, made suggestions, and crossed each other's suggestions out, passage by painstaking passage. Rehearsals with the orchestra revealed more problems, and they continued to modify the score up to the afternoon of the premiere. After an extended orchestral introduction, most of the first movement's 22-minute expanse explores a world of restrained and intricate lyricism before Brahms generously yields the floor to Joachim, who wrote his own cadenza. The second movement begins with a beautiful oboe melody that soloists have long envied — the violinist only comments on it, but never plays it themselves. The finale is bright with joy. Its main theme has a stomping, dance-like quality in Hungarian style, a nod to Joachim's birthplace. The first performances were not particularly successful. Joachim, despite being the leading violinist of his century, seemed to struggle with it. As graceful as they sound, the swooping arpeggios, intricate patterning, and frequent wide leaps danced along the edge of the impossible in his time. One important critic, Hans von Bülow, complained that Brahms had written a "concerto against the violin," arguing that the extreme technical difficulty seemed to fight against the natural character of the instrument. And yet, this supposed weakness of the piece has grown into its greatest gift, as later generations of violinists grew into the challenge.