The Violin Concerto in D minor, Op. 14, is an unfinished

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 ...

Gabriel Fauré Gabriel Urbain Fauré (12 May 1845 – 4 November 1924) was a French composer, organist, pianist and teacher. He was one of the foremost French composers of his generation, and his musical style influenced many 20th-century composers. ...

, who worked on it between 1878 and 1879. Of the two completed movements, only the first survives.

Background

Following the success of his first violin sonata, Fauré intended to compose a violin concerto for his friend

Ovide Musin Ovide Musin (September 22, 1854 – November 25, 1929) was a Belgian violinist and composer. Life Musin was born in Nandrin Nandrin () is a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality of Wallonia located in the Liège Province, province of Li� ...

. The second movement, ''Andante'', was completed first, and was premiered in a piano arrangement by Musin and

André Messager André Charles Prosper Messager (; 30 December 1853 – 24 February 1929) was a French composer, organist, pianist and conductor. His compositions include eight ballets and thirty , opérettes and other stage works, among which his ballet (1 ...

at the

Société Nationale de Musique Groupe Lactalis S.A. (doing business as Lactalis) is a French multinational dairy products corporation, owned by the Besnier family and based in Laval, Mayenne, France. The company's former name was Besnier S.A. Lactalis is the largest dairy pr ...

on 28 December 1878. In summer 1879, Fauré wrote to

Pauline Viardot Pauline Viardot (; 18 July 1821 – 18 May 1910) was a French dramatic mezzo-soprano, composer and pedagogue of Spanish descent. Born Michelle Ferdinande Pauline García,FitzLyon, p. 15, referring to the baptismal name. Thbirth recorddigitized a ...

that he was happy with the progress of the concerto and had material for the last movement, though he would never complete it. The first and second movements were premiered on 12 April 1880 with Musin as the soloist and

Édouard Colonne Édouard Juda Colonne (23 July 1838 – 28 March 1910) was a French conductor and violinist, and a champion of the music of Berlioz and other eminent 19th-century composers. Life and career Colonne was born in Bordeaux, the son and grandson ...

conducting. A contemporary reviewer for the ''

Revue et gazette musicale de Paris The ' () was a weekly musical review founded in 1827 by the Belgian musicologist, teacher and composer François-Joseph Fétis, then working as professor of counterpoint and fugue at the Conservatoire de Paris. It was the first French-languag ...

'' admired the "inventive" second movement, describing it "full of charm and passion", but counselled Fauré to rework or abandon the "dull and monotonous" opening Allegro. Like his two abandoned symphonies, Fauré would reuse the material in later works. Themes from the first movement were incorporated into his string quartet that was completed more than forty years later. Fauré also reworked the second movement into the ''Andante'' for violin and piano, Op. 75, which was published in 1897. The first movement was first published by Boccaccini & Spada in 1985. The second movement appears to have been destroyed by Fauré himself no later than 1924 – he wrote to his wife in October: "When I get back to Paris I shall spend a little time each day giving you all my sketches and drafts and everything else of which I want ''nothing to survive after me'', so that you can ''burn'' them."

Structure

Fauré intended for the violin concerto to include three movements:

References

Sources

* {{Authority control Concertante works by Gabriel Fauré Fauré, Gabriel 1879 compositions Compositions in D minor

Faure Faure () is an Occitan family name meaning blacksmith, from Latin . It is pronounced in French (unlike Fauré which is pronounced ). People Politicians * Dominique Faure (born 1959), French politician * Edgar Faure (1908–1988), French poli ...