Valse-Scherzo (Tchaikovsky)

It is not to be confused with two similarly named works by Tchaikovsky, both for solo piano: one written in 1870 as Op.

It seems to have been written in January–February 1877; this has been surmised from a letter of 3 February 1877 from Iosif Kotek to Tchaikovsky, which is the first documentary evidence of its existence.

Indeed, it was Kotek's visit that provided the direct inspiration for the concerto, as he brought with him the score of the recently published Symphonie espagnole by Édouard Lalo, which so impressed Tchaikovsky that he put aside the composition he had been working on (the Piano Sonata in G major) and immediately started to write a violin concerto of his own.

[3][4] Barcewicz was a fellow student of Iosif Kotek's under Tchaikovsky, and it was he who in 1892 gave the Polish premiere of the Violin Concerto, under the composer's baton.

[3][4] The Valse-Scherzo has received many performances and recordings by violinists such as David Oistrakh, Leonid Kogan, Itzhak Perlman, Nathan Milstein, Midori, Gil Shaham, Boris Belkin, Ulf Hoelscher, Vadim Repin, Sarah Chang, Chloë Hanslip, James Ehnes, Leila Josefowicz and Julia Fischer.