Composed in 1940 for violinist David Oistrakh, Aram Khachaturian's Violin Concerto in d minor is notable for the insistent, repetitive rhythmic motive of its opening theme, in which the violin is "announced" by a commanding statement from the orchestra. The darkly mysterious second movement features a lengthy orchestral introduction before giving way to the sultry, almost plaintive voice of the violin. Khachaturian's Armenian heritage imbues the boisterous final movement with spirit and folk-inspired motives. Though the composer originally wrote a cadenza to be played in the first movement, Oistrakh preferred to write his own, which is the more oft-played of the two today. More recently, this Violin Concerto has been adopted by flautists, through a composer-sanctioned flute transcription by Jean-Pierre Rampal. This edition for violin with piano reduction is edited by David Oistrakh. Published by the International Music Company. Difficulty: A6