b'flashy passagework of the violin now takes on an accompanimental role. The three movements are connected, with a single bassoon note providing the link to the gently lilting and beautifully cantabile Andante. A brief Allegretto non troppo based on a variant of the first theme creates the bridge to the boisterous last movement, Allegro molto vivace in E major, which has the brilliance of a Mendelssohn scherzo. The dazzling virtuosity of the violin part in this movement occurs as part of a richly nuanced dialogue between orchestra and soloist, to deeply satisfying effect. The work is celebrated as one of the great 19th-century violin concerti. Joseph Joachim, in comparing the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto to concerti by Beethoven, Brahms, and Bruch, described it as the most inward, the hearts jewel, while composer Maurice Ravel said simply that it was the best violin concerto of them all.Instrumentationsolo violin, two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, two trumpets, two horns, timpani, and strings Duration26 minutesLudwig van Beethoven(1770-1827)Symphony No. 4 in B-flat Major, Op. 60Composed 1806Beethoven composed his Fourth Symphony in B-flat Major, Op. 60, in 1806, during a period of intense compositional activity that included the Op. 59 String Quartets, the Fourth Piano Concerto in G Major, and the Violin Concerto. The fourth symphony has been historically underrated in comparison with its predecessor, the revolutionary Eroica symphony, and the great fifth symphony that followed. While the third and the fifth symphonies did transform the symphonic genre with their epic narrative and musical structures, this comparison discourages an appreciation of the marvelous fourth symphony on its own terms. Robert Schumann described it as a Grecian maiden surrounded by two Nordic giants. Rather than going for titanic stature, the fourth symphony expands the expressive boundaries of the classical symphonic style of Haydn, who had been one of Beethovens teachers and who was still alive and living in Vienna in 1806. The symphony opens with an exceedingly slow, spooky introduction in the parallel key of B-flat minor. Haydn used the same formal device in such works as princetonsymphony.org/ 15/ princetonfestival.org'