Dvorak's rise to international recognition came about in the late 1870s, when he received a regular series of awards from the committee of the Austrian State Music Prize. The committee for this prize included the famous critic Hanslick, and Johannes Brahms. Through the friendship and support of these two men, but particularly Brahms, Dvorak gained commissions, he gained performances, he gained a regular publisher, he gained confidence and he gained financial security. But success never spoiled Dvorak. The son of a country publican and village butcher, he kept a taste for simple pleasures and friends, and counted among his hobbies an interest in steam locomotives.

In January 1879 the great German violinist Joseph Joachim had given the first performance of the violin concerto by Brahms, and immediately followed this with a request for a violin concerto from Dvorak. Dvorak agreed, wrote the concerto in the summer of 1879, and sent it to Joachim for comment and suggestions. For some reason Joachim went rather cool on the project, and it was not until 1883 that the concerto was first performed, and then not by Joachim but by a Czech violinist, Frantisek Ondricek, in Prague.

The concerto opens with a bold call to attention - a fanfare-like phrase for full orchestra followed by a rhapsodic figure for the violin soloist. Repeated a second time, the main argument of the movement then follows more normally. Towards the end, instead of reprising the main themes, Dvorak writes a cadenza-like passage for the soloist in which the tempo unwinds …

… and leads directly into the slow movement. A calm melody is sung by the soloist, which later leads into a stormy and passionate central section, giving the soloist an opportunity for a bravura display. The movement closes with a return of the calm opening, now on French Horn, with the soloist soaring ever higher above.

The finale is close in style to Dvorak's popular Slavonic Dances, being based on a Czech furiant dance. The tune comes round several times, orchestrated differently each time and separated by contrasting episodes, in a display of invention that never flags in interest and energy.