Introduction et Rondo capriccioso, op. 28

Saint-Saëns composed the Introduction et Rondo capriccioso in 1863 for Pablo de Sarasate, then about twenty and already touring; the violinist had walked into the composer's rooms and asked, with disarming directness, for a concerto. It may have been conceived as an alternative finale for the First Violin Concerto, which Saint-Saëns had written for the same player. Sarasate gave the first performance in 1867. The layout — a brooding A minor introduction over held strings, then a rondo of relentless triplet figuration — has made it a standard test of a violinist's lightness of bow.