Violin Concerto

The origins of my Violin Concerto go back to the years of the war. The first entrance of the soloist stood clearly etched in my mind from the very beginning as a theme for my compositional design. At the same time, the theme evoked within me a contrasting orchestral introduction in which I sought to attain an instrumental color wholly devoid of individuality. What I favored instead was a vividly sculpted entrance for the solo violin, which in turn provokes a concertante performance from the orchestra. The stylistic fabric so typical of this work results from the violin's urge to maintain its leadership throughout the emerging counterpoint. I completely dispensed with filler parts in the orchestral writing; everywhere the finished texture derives from motion bearing the imprint of the motivic material.

"The Concerto for Violin and Orchestra of 1953 surprises us with a new and wholly personal sound. Its three movements - Overture, Aria and Finale - are beholden neither to the baroque age nor to the classical-romantic tradition. The stately three-part texture of the Introduction is an elemental inspiration; the contrapuntal melody of the Aria, interspersed with soft interjections from the trumpet, conjures up a memory of the lofty and unearthly lyricism of Bach, but only at a distant remove; the finale movement unites a fugal spirit with the brilliance of a concerto finale." (Werner Oehlmann, Musica, Sept 1968)

"The rigorous spirituality of his language and the virtuosity of the violin part form strange bedfellows. The slow movement is, in its expressive unity, the most convincing thing that Schwarz-Schilling has shown us to date. This is music that lives at once in a world of yesteryear and tomorrow." (Hans Heinz Stuckenschmid)