Rondo in A major for Violin and Strings, D 438 (Schubert)

The Rondo for Violin and Strings, D 438, is a composition in A major by Franz Schubert. He wrote the rondo in 1816. Like the roughly contemporary Adagio and Rondo concertante in F major, D 487, the work is a concertante piece designed to highlight the skills of the violin soloist.

Schubert composed the piece in 1816, along with a number of other works featuring a violin soloist including the three sonatinas (D 384/385 & D 408) and the Konzertstück in D major, D 345. It is believed that the work was composed with the intent that either the composer himself or his brother Ferdinand would take the soloist's part.¹²

The piece was unpublished during the composer's lifetime, not seeing publication until 1897, when Breitkopf & Härtel published it in an edition edited by Eusebius Mandyczewski.³¹

The composition, which is written for a violin soloist and an accompanying group made up of violins, violas & cellos,^a is structured as a single multi-tempo movement divided into two sections, the Introduction (Marked: Adagio) and the Rondo (Marked: Allegro giusto). It takes around 13 – 15 minutes to perform.