b'Pehr gave him a violin and over the next few years he completely fell in love with it. He once wrote, When I play, I am filled with a strange feeling; it is as though the insides of the music opened up to me. He would often fantasize about being a virtuoso violin soloist. Sibelius became quite an accomplished violinist, but failed to reach the virtuoso caliber he dreamed of as a young boy. After his musical focus shifted fully to composition, he eventually abandoned his dream of becoming a violinist saying:My tragedy was that I wanted to be a celebrated violinist at any price. Since the age of 15 I played my violin practically from morning to night. I hated pen and inkunfortunately I preferred an elegant violin bow. My love for the violin lasted quite long and it was a very painful awakening when I had to admit that I had begun my training for the exacting career of a virtuoso too late. After being encouraged by violinist William Burmester to write a concerto for violin, Sibelius slowly began working on the piece. Burmester was the concertmaster of the orchestra in Helsinki, and hoped to give the premiere performance of the concerto. As he worked on the concerto, Sibelius would keep Burmester abreast of its progress and implied he might dedicate the work to him. When he was near completion, he sent it to Burmester who wrote, Wonderful! Masterly! Only once before have I spoken in such terms to a composer, and that was when Tchaikovsky showed me his concerto! Sibelius scheduled its first public performance for February 8th, 1904. Unfortunately, this was a time when Burmester could not be in town. This timeframe barely gave Sibelius enough time to fully complete the work and make all the parts for the orchestra. An undistinguished local violin teacher was chosen as a replacement soloist. The premiere performance turned out to be a flop as a result of the lack of preparation time. Overlooking the unfavorable initial public reception of the work, Burmester again offered to play the concerto, writing All my twenty-five years stage experience, my artistry and insight will be placed to serve this work.I shall play the concerto in Helsingfors in such a way that the city will be at your feet! However, Sibelius would not allow another performance and withdrew the piece. The following year he completed a revised version. The premiere performance was given by the Berlin Philharmonic with Karl Halr, the ochestras concertmaster and a former member of the Joachim Quartet, as soloist and Richard Strauss conducting. The concerto was later dedicated to yet another violinist, Ferenc von Vecsey, a Hungarian-born prodigy, who in his younger years was one of the concertos earliest champions. princetonsymphony.org/ 15/ princetonfestival.org'