Violin Concerto No. 2 (Prokofiev)

63, written in 1935 by Sergei Prokofiev, is a work in three movements: It was premiered on 1 December 1935 at the Teatro Monumental in Madrid, by the French violinist Robert Soetens and the Madrid Symphony Orchestra conducted by Enrique Fernández Arbós.

[1] Prokofiev wrote it after the first performance, by Soetens and Samuel Dushkin, of his Sonata for Two Violins, which pleased him greatly.

Dushkin had recently had a concerto written for him by Igor Stravinsky, so Prokofiev did the same for Soetens.

It starts off with a simple violin melody related to traditional Russian folk music.

Apart from the solo violin, the concerto is scored for moderate-sized orchestra including two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, two horns, two trumpets, snare drum, bass drum, castanets, cymbals, triangle, and strings.