Virtuoso violinist and member of the fabled 19th-century Belgian violin school, Henry Vieuxtemps was hailed as the successor to Paganini. He composed seven concertos for the instrument, the first of which met with immediate success. Described by Berlioz as ‘a magnificent symphony for orchestra with principal violin’, the sophisticated and elegant Fourth Concerto, Vieuxtemps’s most popular work, was written eleven years later. It reflects the composer’s desire to elevate the concerto to a work of symphonic proportions.