Mendelssohn Violin Concerto

When Mendelssohn wrote his Violin Concerto in 1844 he could hardly have imagined how famous and well loved it would become.

In this programme, people tell how it has played an important part in their lives.

Violinist Daniel Hope tells how he got caught practising this concerto secretly locked in the bathroom at school.

Harry Atterbury remembers hearing the Mendelssohn for the first time on the night before a Second World War air raid which turned his life upside down.

Composer Stephen Pratt recalls discovering that his father had played this concerto to cheer fellow soldiers in the jungle in Burma, and explains how this inspired him to write his own violin concerto.

Series exploring famous pieces of music and their emotional appeal.

Producer: Sara Conkey

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 2010.

**** The recording of the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto as featured, was by violinist Maxim Vengerov with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra conducted by Kurt Masur. Teldec 4509-90875-2.