Niccolò Paganini

Concerto for Violin 1 Op. 6

Violin virtuoso and composer Niccolò Paganini's (1782-1840) Concerto for Violin No. 1 in D, Op. 6 was written between 1817 and 1818, with the premiere taking place on March 31, 1819, in Naples, Italy. The work was originally written in the key of E-flat, with the orchestral parts all written in that key, while the solo violin was written in D and instructed to play with a half-step scordatura. This was done to make some of the extremely technical solo sections possible on a single string, but it also somewhat muffled the string section of the orchestra, permitting the soloist to better standout. Likely to avoid the scordatura, a version was later created in the key of D. Reprint edition. Edited and provided with cadenza by Carl Flesch.