III. Tempo I

In the earlier part of his career, Pablo de Sarasate mostly played arrangements of opera music and of popular pieces for other instruments, but as time went by a sizeable repertoire of original violin pieces written especially for him came into being. He became acquainted with Saint-Saëns in 1859, when Sarasate was only 15 years old but already a renowned violin virtuoso. He asked the 24-year-old composer to write him a violin concerto. The result is Violin concerto No. 1. The three concerto movements are played without a break.