During my high school years, I took violin lessons from esteemed teacher Mary West. She emphasized that it was important to listen to as many violin recordings as possible. As I get more experience in teaching and playing the violin, this becomes more obvious. A wide variety of interpretations of different violin pieces opens the door to improve a violinist’s musicality.
This, in turn, makes the playing and listening of various violin repertoire more rewarding for the player and audience. There is so much to be gained from listening to various violinists. It is important to listen to violin music before it is studied. As a student internalizes the music, it can be learned with greater ease.
Happy Listening!
— Marnie
Below are various violin pieces outside of the Suzuki books that may be studied as a student advances.
Short Violin Pieces:
Adagio in E Major, K 261. W.A. Mozart: Yoerae Kim, violin:
Romance No. 2 in F Major. Beethoven: Christine Binzel, violin:
Cantabile. Paganini: Sarah Chang, violin:
Caprice Basque. Sarasate: Hyunjae Lim, violin:
Csardas. Monti: Jennifer Jeon, violin:
Meditation from Thais. Massenet: Sarah Chang, violin:
Romance for Violin and Piano. Beach: Rachel Barton Pine, violin:
Salut d’amour. Elgar: Sarah Chang, violin:
Sarabande in G minor. Böhm: Doris Lee, violin:
Scene de Ballet. DeBeriot: Ai Takamatsu, violin:
Scherzo. Brahms: Stella Chen, violin:
Tempo di Minuetto. Kreisler: William Hagen, violin:
The Bee. Schubert: Annelle K. Gregory, violin:
Violin Concertos:
Violin Concerto in A minor. Accolay: Igor Malinovsky, violin:
Violin Concerto in E Major. J.S. Bach: Hilary Hahn, violin:
Violin Concerto in D major, Op.77. Brahms: Bomsori Kim, violin:
Violin Concerto in C Major. Kabalevsky: Oliver Leitner, violin:
Violin Concerto No. 3 in G Major. Mozart: Hilary Hahn, violin:
Violin Concerto No. 1 in D Major. Paganini: Maria Duenas, violin:
Violin Sonatas:
Sonata Op. 12 No. 1 in D Major. Beethoven: Anne Akiko, violin:
Sonata Op. 12 No. 2 in A Major. Beethoven: Leonidas Kavakos, violin:
Sonata Op. 12 No. 3 in E-flat Major. Beethoven: Anne Sophie Mutter, violin:
Sonata Op. 23 No. 4 in A minor. Beethoven: Anne Sophie Mutter, violin:
Sonata Op. 24 No. 5 “Spring” in F Major. Beethoven: Anne Sophie Mutter, violin:
Sonata Op. 30 No. 6 in A Major. Beethoven: Tessa Lark, violin: