Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso

It was dedicated to the virtuoso violinist Pablo de Sarasate, who performed the solo violin part at the premiere in April 1867.

[2] The premiere took place on 4 April 1867 at the Champs-Élysées, with Pablo de Sarasate playing the solo part and the composer conducting.

[1] The work is scored for solo violin, 2 flutes/piccolo, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 2 horns, 2 trumpets (or cornets), 3 timpani and strings.

The orchestra supports the violin with block chord progressions while the soloist plays virtuosic arpeggios and chromatic scalar passages.

[clarification needed] In bar 18 the motion picks up when the tempo indication changes from Andante malinconico to animato and the soloist jumps into a rapid thirty-second note line.