Violin Concerto, Opus 48
Dmitri Kabalevsky (1904-87)
Though his family intended that he go into mathematics or economics (fields in which his father worked), Dmitri Kabalevsky showed early artistic talent, both in painting and music. He continued to paint all his life, but it was music that became his profession. He aimed at first to become a pianist and a piano teacher and wrote his first compositions as little pieces for his pupils. Kabalevsky was always a politically conscious composer (having joined the Communist party in 1940), and that meant, during Stalin's regime, close adherence to a particular musical style, one that considered concert music to be intended for the broadest possible audience and insisted that music should be tuneful (often using folk tunes) and end in a major key.

The year 1948 was particular crucial in the history of Soviet music, because the country's greatest composers (especially Shostakovich and Prokofiev) were publicly attacked for music that showed signs of "bourgeois formalism." In that very year, Kabalevsky produced his sunny and tuneful Violin Concerto, the first of three concertos (the others were for cello and piano) written between 1948 and 1952 for young virtuosi. Its directness and lively charm have made it a repertory work ever since.