The concerto was dedicated, as was Othmar Schoeck's concerto for the same instrument, to the violinist Stefi Geyer, with whom Bartók was in love. Geyer could not reciprocate Bartók's feelings and rejected the concerto. It was revived after both Bartók and Geyer had died. Geyer's copy of the manuscript was bequeathed to Paul Sacher to be performed by him and Hansheinz Schneeberger. The concerto was later championed by David Oistrakh. Acclaimed recordings include Oistrakh with Gennady Rozhdestvensky conducting, as well as versions by Maxim Vengerov and György Pauk.

Date of composition 1908 (1908-1907)
Premiered 1958, May 30th in Basel, Switzerland
First published 1959
Type Concerto
Catalogue BB 48a
Approx. duration 20 minutes
Instruments Violin
Orchestra
Autotranslations beta Béla Bartók: Concerto pour violon n°1, BB 48a
Béla Bartók: Concerto per violino n. 1, BB 48a
Béla Bartók: Konzert Nr. 1 für Violine, BB 48a