Top Violin Concertos

Music Lists - Classical Music

1. Brahms Violin Concerto - profoundly lyrical and requires a lot of heart and virtuosity from the violinist.    The orchestra is thickly textured like a symphony.  The slow movement in particular is my favorite.
2. Beethoven Violin Concerto- soulful and profound.
3. J.S. Bach Double Concerto - it's actually for 2 violins, but no one can resist the contrapuntal interplay between the two violins.  Also love the middle movement!
4. Mendelssohn Violin Concerto No. 1- beautiful melody, the opening theme is so charming.  I can understand why others call it the perfect violin concerto.
5. Shostakovich Violin Concerto No. 1- deeply spiritual adagio will blow you away.
6. Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto- also very Tchaikovsky-melodious and virtuostic, if for me, a bit shallow.
7. Sibelius Violin Concerto - dramatic music.
8. Mozart Violin Concerto No. 5 - delightful music (it's Mozart, what else can I say?)
9. Lalo: Symphonie Espagnol - more of a violin concerto than a symphony, I love the spanish sounding-themes.
10. Paganini Violin Concerto No. 1 - written by a wizard violinist and contains all kinds of violin fireworks.  It is very tuneful in the italian manner.