Miss May says in her life of Brahms that the manuscript of _Nänie_, and portions of the concerto, were soon lent by Brahms to Dr. Billroth, "the concerto movements being handed to him with the words, 'A few little pianoforte pieces.'" "It is always a delight to me," wrote Billroth, "when Brahms, after paying me a short visit, during which we have talked of indifferent things, takes a roll out of his greatcoat pocket and says casually, 'Look at that and write me what you think of it.'"
I. Allegro non troppo II. Adagio III. Allegro giocoso, ma non troppo vivace
This concerto was written, during the summer and the fall of 1878, at Pörtschach on Lake Wörther in Carinthia for Joseph Joachim, dedicated to him, and first played by him under the direction of the composer at a Gewandhaus concert, Leipsic, on January 1, 1879.
Brahms, not confident of his ability to write with full intelligence for the solo violin, was aided by Joachim, who it appears from the correspondence between him and Brahms, gave advice inspired by his own opinions concerning the violinist's art. Richard Specht, in his _Johannes Brahms_ (1928), says that Brahms agreed to scarcely anything but "bow marks and fingering; otherwise he adhered to his text, and not always to the advantage of his notation, which has often been misread by violinists." There was a dispute concerning the writing of "ties over staccato dots, which has not the same meaning for the violinist as for the pianist." Joachim tried to explain this difference, but Brahms obstinately refused to alter his notation, "which was afterwards duly misinterpreted."
The concerto was originally in four movements. It contained a _scherzo_ which was thrown overboard. Max Kalbeck, the biographer of Brahms, thinks it highly probable that it found its way into the Second pianoforte concerto. The _adagio_ was so thoroughly revised that it was practically new. "The middle movements have gone," Brahms wrote, "and of course they were the best! But I have written a poor _adagio_ for it." Specht suggests that Brahms may have intended to save the rejected two movements for a second violin concerto, "of which he made sketches immediately after the first."
Florence May in her life of Brahms quotes Dörffel with regard to the first performance at Leipsic: "Joachim played with a love and devotion which brought home to us in every bar the direct or indirect share he has had in the work. As to the reception, the first movement was too new to be distinctly appreciated by the audience, the second made considerable way, the last aroused great enthusiasm." Miss May adds that the critic Bernsdorf was less unsympathetic than usual.