My daughter asked me for some grade 4 or 5 level violin sonatas or concertos. Surely, there's no such thing, I told her, or, is there? After all, violin sonatas and concertos are played by virtuosos, not by intermediate level kids. Am I right? I dare not pose the question to her violin teacher next week just in case it makes us both look stupid!

There a piano sonatas that people at that level can play so why not violin.. there is a lot of violin music out there after all.

My thoughts exactly. Maybe not concertos, but sonatas surely ...

Really? I thought intermediate students can't play violin sonatas but only "arrangements" - very simplified pieces that have been specially arranged for them by people like Sheila Nelson, Huw Edwards Jones, etc. No?

How about Seitz concerto in g major op.13 or d major op.22, Rieding concerto in g major op.34 or concerto in d major op.36. All are in first position but im not sure what grade they are exactly....

CHOPET, this is helpful as she can already do 1st to 3rd position quite easily. Thanks a lot!

I was wrong.

What about the Dvorak Sonatina, I think it is opus 100???

I have a feeling that it's often said that the Bach Double Violin Concerto (Talented friend needed unless it's an arrangement...) is in one of the Suzuki books that children can play (I presume this is only one movement of it) also I have a feeling that some people have mentioned Vivaldi Concerti (movements) being on grade 5. That's just working from memory: I'm not a violininst or an expert on how hard things are; just trying to remember what people have said so this may all be nonsense Perhaps someone can confirm or correct this.

how about a concertino? my son is the same standard and he likes the Kuchler in G and in D for violin.

Not that easy to play well, but not too hard to get some sort of grip on, and MASSES of fun! LOVE the Bach double

***sorry, logged in as Viohazard instead of All Ears, oops!***
Japanese teachers are heavily into concertos, so here are some which Viohazard has played over the past few years...of course, they represent his teacher's understanding of his personal tastes, not the complete range. Viohazard isn't particularly advanced - his teacher's star pupils played these things 2-3 years younger than Viohazard did.

Easy - Rieding concerto is more lyrical than Seitz, which is very straightforward. Viohazard played the Seitz No. 5 a few years back, around the time he did the Rieding (which he enjoyed very much) but just played the Seitz. No. 4 this month, and while it was admittedly a bit boring, he certainly had to work on certain bowing techniques for it.

Easy but plenty of work required to master them, and enough "meat" to prevent boredom even when studied over a long period: Vivaldi A Minor and Bach Double. I can see why they are such popular choices - they are not very complex or unexpected, so they are easy to memorize, and they don't require advanced techniques.

Harder, but not very "advanced": Eccles/Sonata (Suzuki book), Monti /Csardas, other Vivaldi or Bach concertos. By "advanced", I mean that some common "advanced" pieces really showcase/work-out certain advanced techniques (e.g. Wieniawski), or a command of expressive techniques such as vibrato or bowing (e.g. Mendelssohn) that an intermediate student just isn't secure in yet.

Smaller pieces he's enjoyed: almost any of the Dancla/Airs Varies.

Orchestral: Brandenburg No. 5, Vivaldi Concerto Grosso 3/8. Quartet: quite a variety of Mozart chamber music, and a big favorite recently (from John Kember's Romantic Music for String Quartet) was a piece from Borodin's Polovtsian Dances in his Prince Igor opera.

Listening: Isaac Stern: Concertos from my Childhood. This CD is widely available, and really does have all the old chestnuts on it, invaluable for young kids, I think - there are few recordings available for these student concertos, and Viohazard also identified with the cover photo of a young, chubby Stern stripped down to his singlet with his violin clutched firmly in sweaty young paws!

Over this Grade 4/5 period, Viohazard started out liking Grieg, then Tchaikovsky, and then woke up to Debussy, but doesn't seem ready (emotionally?) to really enjoy listening to the Romantic biggies such as Beethoven or Mendelssohn...put those on the CD player, and he wanders off to his Lego!

My first concerto I played around Grade 5 was Vivaldi D minor Op. 3 No.11.
Striking beginning, little bit of double stopping to start working on that, heavenly slow movement, final movement will stretch them. After 3 years I still play t from time to time!

There are many concertos aorund Gr. 4 & 5 standard. You should check out the Bosworth range of Easy Concertos eg. Essek, Rieding, Kuchler. There are so many of them and my students love them as they get a great sense of achievement after completing 3 mvts rather than just individual pieces. The Vivaldi G Major and A Minor are other favourites and the Janschinow. There is also the Pornoff E Minor and Huber. The list goes on and on.

That should have been Portnoff not Pornoff

I THOUGHT that sounded kind of rude You'd better hope no one on the board saw that, hee hee!

How about the Accolay Violin Concertino in A minor? It might be a bit difficult for Grade 4-5, but it would be an enjoyable challenge!

I love the double stops section at the end....

Also, I recommend Babara Baber's Solos for Young Violinists Vol. 1 which has movements for concertinos and concerti suitable for violinists at beginner/intermediate level.

Hope this helps

Found BOSWORTH list of easy concertos which is very helpful as it indicates the level of difficulty involved. Thanks! Fiddlingfee, you are SO right abt the sense of achievement! I asked her why she wants to do a concerto. She replied that she thinks it'd be fun to do the original whole thing (rather than individual pieces). She sees it as a challenge.

THANKS, All Ears, Fiddlingfee and ALL.

PS. SO GLAD I ASKED HERE. WE HAVE HAD THE BOSWORTH LIST ALL ALONG. IT WAS GIVEN TO US BY MY DH'S COLLEAGUE (HE GAVE UP VIOLIN!) WHEN SHE FIRST STARTED LESSONS BUT HAD IT FILED AWAY AND COMPLETELY FORGOTTEN! Now, resurrected. Thanks, everyone.