Wieniawski Violin Concerto No. 2 Op. 22 for Violin and String Orchestra

All three movements of Wieniawski's Second Violin Concerto, set for solo violin and string orchestra. This edition is reduced from Wieniawski's own orchestral score, so a strong soloist can perform the complete concerto with strings alone.

Wieniawski completed the concerto in St Petersburg and gave the first performance himself in 1862, with Anton Rubinstein conducting. It is the more searching of his two concertos. The first movement sets a restless D minor theme against a lyrical second subject and runs straight on into the Romance, a long-breathed song in B-flat major. The finale breaks the calm with an Allegro con fuoco and a cadenza, then turns into the Allegro moderato à la Zingara, with its off-the-string bowing and gypsy colour.

I worked from Wieniawski's original orchestration rather than the piano reduction. The wind and brass lines have been rescored into the strings, so the orchestral colour and the exchanges between soloist and orchestra are still there. The solo part is Wieniawski's own, and it is diploma / professional standard throughout.

At approximately 22 minutes, the complete concerto fills the concerto slot in a string orchestra programme without the cost of hiring wind, brass and timpani. If you only need the first movement, there is a separate edition with a new concert ending in F major.

Check the score and parts preview images above, then watch the complete score video below. They'll give you a clear picture of the engraving quality and overall difficulty before you buy.

• Instrumentation: solo violin, violin 1, violin 2, viola, cello, double bass
• Difficulty: diploma / professional standard
• Duration: approximately 22 minutes
• Style focus: Romantic concerto playing, singing tone in the Romance, off-the-string bowing and virtuoso passagework in the finale
• Format: PDF download, full score and all parts

This edition suits advanced students and young professionals preparing the whole concerto for a diploma recital, audition or competition final where the accompaniment is a string orchestra. Conservatoire, youth and chamber string orchestras can use it to give a strong soloist the complete work rather than a single movement. No performance licence is required, and permission to record is included.