Introduction et Rondo capriccioso op. 28

“If my violin music was so successful, I owe it to him, because he was for a time the most prominent violinist in the world and he played my works, which were still unknown, everywhere.” With these words written in September 1908 to the pianist Caroline de Serres, Saint-Saëns paid tribute to his friend, the Spanish violinist Pablo Sarasate, to whom he dedicated several of his works for violin, including the Introduction et Rondo capriccioso. Saint-Saëns composed this work in November 1864 from thematic material he had sketched out a few months earlier, while he was taking part in the Prix de Rome competition. His original intention was to use this piece as the third movement of his Violin Concerto in A major, op. 20, but it ultimately remained an independent work. The premiere took place in Paris, Salle Pleyel, on 27 April 1867, performed by Sarasate under the baton of François Seghers (1801-1881). The first version of the work published by Hartmann in 1870 was the violin and piano reduction prepared by Georges Bizet at Saint-Saëns’s request. The orchestral version was published by Durand, first as separate orchestral parts (February 1875), and then in full score (August 1879). Op. 28 comprises four sections (Andante malinconico — Animato — Allegro ma non troppo — Più allegro), but in fact adopts a bipartite structure: a slow movement, in turn meditative and lyrical, followed by fast a rondo form, extremely virtuosic and coloured by Hispanic influences.