Joseph Joachim (1831—1907) was a child prodigy on the violin. After studying in Vienna he came to Leipzig at the age of twelve. There he combined playing and further study under Mendelssohn’s guidance until 1850 when he became co-leader of the Gewandhaus Orchestra. Almost sixty years of solo and quartet playing then followed, and he became one of the most popular soloists of the nineteenth century. He was a great admirer of Schumann’s music, and his own compositions, which were· mainly for violin, reflect this. His cadenzas for the Beethoven and Brahms concerti are still played today. This little Andantino was written in a musical visitors book kept by the oboist Gustav Vogt ( 1781—1870) in the 1840s.