Violin Concerto No 1. Op. 77. Score.

Form:

Concerto for violin and orchestra (with 2 harps and reduced brass) in four movements:

1. Nocturne—Moderato
2. Scherzo—Allegro
3. Passacaglia—Andante attacca Cadenza attacca
4. Burlesca—Allegro con brio

Orchestra:

Piccolo (= Flute III), 2 Flutes, 2 Oboes, Cor anglais (= Oboe III), 2 B flat Clarinets, Bass Clarinet (= B flat Clarinet III), 2 Bassoons, Contrabassoon (= Bassoon III)
4 Horns, Tuba
Timpani, Tambourine, Gong
Xylophone, Celesta, 2 Harps
Strings.
Author’s note: Should preferably be performed with the following number of string instruments: violins I—14-16, violins II—14-16, altos—12-16, violoncellos—12-14, double basses—10-14.

Composed:

21 July 1947–24 March 1948, written at Moscow.

Dedication:

David Fyodorovich Oistrakh.

Duration:

Approx. 35-40 min.

The score of Violin Concerto No. 1 was published for the first time in 1956 by State Music Publishers (Muzgiz). The publication was signed to press on 7 July 1956. Following this, Muzgiz put out the author’s arrangement of the Concerto for Violin and Piano (signed to press on 1 October 1956).

Dmitri Shostakovich was not satisfied with these publications, particularly with the inaccuracies and differences in tempo designations, which were the result of certain difficulties the composer often experienced when determining the tempo in his composition, on the one hand, and the careless typing and editing of the publications, on the other.

The second edition of the score came out in 1957 (signed to press on 5 July 1957). The author’s arrangement of the Concerto for Violin and Piano was published the same year. The composer made several changes to these editions relating primarily to the tempos. The 1957 editions served as the basis for all the subsequent lifetime reprints of the score and piano score of the Concerto. In 1981, the score (Vol. 14) and piano score (Vol. 15) of the Concerto were published as part of Dmitri Shostakovich’s Collected Works, to which some text clarifications of the author’s manuscripts were added.

When preparing this volume, the author’s manuscript of the score kept in the Glinka State Central Museum of Musical Culture (rec. gr. 32, f. 43) and the lifetime editions of the score and piano score were used.