Aram Khachaturian Aram Ilyich Khachaturian (; rus, Арам Ильич Хачатурян, , ɐˈram ɨˈlʲjitɕ xətɕɪtʊˈrʲan, Ru-Aram Ilyich Khachaturian.ogg; hy, Արամ Խաչատրյան, ''Aram Xačʿatryan''; 1 May 1978) was a Soviet and Armenian ...

's Violin Concerto in D minor is a

violin concerto A violin concerto is a concerto for solo violin (occasionally, two or more violins) and instrumental ensemble (customarily orchestra). Such works have been written since the Baroque period, when the solo concerto form was first developed, up thro ...

in three movements composed in 1940. It was composed for

David Oistrakh David Fyodorovich Oistrakh (; – 24 October 1974), was a Soviet classical violinist, violist and conductor. Oistrakh collaborated with major orchestras and musicians from many parts of the world and was the dedicatee of numerous violin w ...

and was premiered on 16 November 1940 by Oistrakh.

Composition

In 1940, Khachaturian was enjoying tremendous professional success and personal joy. He worked on the concerto in the tranquility of a wood composer's retreat west of Moscow; he said of the composition that he "worked without effort ... Themes came to me in such abundance that I had a hard time putting them in order." Many sections of the concerto are reminiscent of the folk music of Khachaturian's native Armenia—while he never directly quotes a specific folk melody, "the exotic Oriental flavor of Armenian scales and melodies and the captivating rhythmic diversity of dances" are throughout the work. The work has been charactered by "an exhilarating rhythmic drive and vitality, and a penchant for intoxicating, highly flavored, languorous melody owning much to the inflections of his native Armenian folk music." Having won the

Stalin prize Stalin Prize may refer to: * The State Stalin Prize in science and engineering and in arts, awarded 1941 to 1954, later known as the USSR State Prize The USSR State Prize (russian: links=no, Государственная премия СССР, ...

in 1941, it has since become one of Khachaturian's famous pieces, in spite of considerable criticism.

Structure

Violin concerto in D minor (1940) * First movement: ''Allegro con fermezza'' (about 14 minutes) * Second movement: ''Andante sostenuto'' (about 12 minutes) * Third movement: ''Allegro vivace'' (about 9 minutes) A movement in sonata form, the ''Allegro con fermezza'' opens with a melody that has been described as "energetic" a "rollicking dance-like theme," and this yields to a "more lyrical" secondary melody. The ''Andante sostenuto'' has been described as "a rhapsodic slow movement that sweeps one into a brooding wintry landscape."

Geoffrey Norris Geoffrey Norris (born 1947) is an English musicologist and music critic. His scholarship focuses on Russian composers; in particularly, Norris is a leading scholar on the life and music of Sergei Rachmaninoff, about whom he has written in nume ...

wrote, "The ease and spontaneity, pungency and flexibility of Khachaturian's melodic inventions are most clearly laid out in the ''Andante sostenuto'' of the central movement, cast in a free-flowing, quasi-improvisatory manner redolent of the art of Armenian folk music." The second movement is a free-flowing

rondo The rondo is an instrumental musical form introduced in the Classical period. Etymology The English word ''rondo'' comes from the Italian form of the French ''rondeau'', which means "a little round". Despite the common etymological root, rondo ...

. The concluding ''Allegro vivace'' has been called "a whirlwind of motion and virtuosity." In this movement, "the folks element is specially pronounced in the dance-like vigor of the main melody and in the repetitive, insistent, wild virtuosity of the solo instrument."Khachaturian, Violin Concerto, EMI CDC 7 47087 2, CD liner notes by

Discography

References

{{Authority control Compositions by Aram Khachaturian 1940 compositions Khachaturian Compositions in D minor