The Concerto for Violin and String Orchestra in D minor, MWV O 3, was composed by Felix Mendelssohn at the age of thirteen.

Mendelssohn was considered by many of his time to be a prodigy comparable only to the young Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

Besides being a brilliant piano virtuoso, his composition took a firm step forward in musical development.

Mendelssohn wrote this violin concerto for Eduard Rietz (eldest brother of Julius Rietz), a beloved friend and teacher who later served as concertmaster for Mendelssohn's legendary performance of Johann Sebastian Bach's St Matthew Passion, which has been thought to have resurrected Bach in the public image.

The first was made immediately after the New York premiere, with him conducting the RCA Victor String Orchestra (his conducting debut on record), the second made the following year with Sir Adrian Boult and the Philharmonia Orchestra, and the last in 1971 with Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos.