The young violin virtuoso Joachim created quite a stir when his little collection of pieces was issued. In particular, the variety of stylistic influences perplexed a number of his contemporaries. The “Romance“ (No. 1), written in Leipzig before 1850, clearly reflects the style of Mendelssohn. But the other two pieces, the “Fantasiestück“ and “Frühlingsfantasie“, which date from his Weimar period, were unequivocally written under the impact of the music of Liszt and...