Louis Spohr: The Concertantes (Concertos) for Two Violins

[Toni]

Louis Spohr: Concertante No. 1 in A major for two violins and orchestra op.48

"A musical gem" is what music writer Hartmut Becker calls the second movement of Concertante No 1 for two violins by Louis Spohr. And really: a dreamlike melody filled with poignant semitones, always played on the dark G-string of the violins, opens a mystical space, thus opening the central Larghetto, one of Spohr's most romantic slow movements.

Louis (Ludwig) Spohr acquired a highly substantial and outstanding reputation in the first half of the nineteenth century as a violin virtuoso, conductor, author, teacher and prolific composer of over a hundred works. In terms of music history, he stands in the transition from the Classical to the Romantic period, but today he is usually only represented in concert programmes with chamber music works (e.g. his Nonet in F major).

Among Spohr's works there are 18 violin concertos and 7 compositions for solo instruments and orchestra, five of which he called Concertante. Among the Concertantes published by Spohr himself, there are two Concertantes for 2 violins, a rare instrumentation in the Romantic period, namely No. 1 in A major for two violins and orchestra op.48 and, as its counterpart, Concertante No. 2 in B minor op.88.

Spohr composed the Concertante No. 1 in A major for two violins and orchestra op.48, at the age of 24, in the spring of 1808, during a creative phase in which he experimented with original forms and complicated techniques. It comes across as a refreshing alternative to the usual repertoire, precisely because it was written for 2 soloists. Here you will find a guide to listen more closely:

https://unbekannte-violinkonzerte.jimdofree.com/e-2/spohr/