Violin Concerto No. 2 in D Minor "in the Hungarian Manner", Op.11 is a Romantic violin concerto written by violinist Joseph Joachim (1831–1907). The critic David Hurwitz has called it "the Holy Grail of Romantic violin concertos."
This is a very long work (with a playing time over 45 minutes) and a very difficult one for the soloist. Practicing it has been likened by the violinist Rachel Barton Pine to "training to run a marathon".
The concerto is in no way a mere pyrotechnic display for the soloist. It is essentially symphonic in spirit and has rarely received an adequate recording. The work is in three movements that are marked:
The "Hungarian Manner" is in keeping with the Joachim's Hungarian heritage. However, like most people of the time, he did not distinguish between Hungarian folk music and gypsy music.
Joachim performed the concerto, with Franz Liszt conducting, on 3 October 1853 in Karlsruhe on the opening day of the Karlsruhe Music Festival. This may or may not have been the premiere.[1]