Violin Concerto No. 2 (Bartók)

36, BB 48a, was written in the years 1907–1908, but only published in 1956, after the composer's death, as "Violin Concerto No.

Bartók composed the concerto in a difficult stage of his life, when he was filled with serious concerns about the growing strength of fascism.

He was of firm anti-fascist opinions, and therefore became the target of various attacks in pre-war Hungary.

[1] Though the piece does not employ twelve-tone technique, it contains twelve-tone themes, such as in the first and third movements: The work was premiered at the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam on March 23, 1939 with Zoltán Székely on violin and Willem Mengelberg conducting the Concertgebouw Orchestra.

Spivakovsky later gave the New York and San Francisco premieres of the work.