# Strauss, Don Juan, Op. 20

The most requested violin excerpt in the orchestral repertoire. A headlong ascending gesture that has to sound both brilliant and completely controlled from the first note.

## About the excerpt

- **Composer:** Richard Strauss

- **Work:** Don Juan, Op. 20

- **Era:** Late-Romantic (c. 1880–1910)

- **Composed:** 1888

- **Tempo:** Allegro molto con brio

- **Clef:** Treble clef

- **Difficulty:** Audition

- **Audition list:** Standard excerpt

## Bowing

Broad, on-string strokes rather than anything bouncing, the character is heroic, and a light stroke reads as timid here.

## Where it goes wrong

The opening leap is almost always rushed. Panels listen for whether the first bar has the same rhythmic integrity as the fifth.

Intonation in the ascending passagework is exposed because the whole section plays it together; small errors are audible as a smeared chord rather than a wrong note.

## Style

Brilliance comes from bow speed and contact point, not from pressure. Forcing the sound is the most common way this excerpt goes wrong.

## Techniques

tone-poem, audition, fast, bravura

This public reference contains work information and original practice notes. It does not publish the excerpt notation or grant permission to copy a score. Score access and rights depend on the edition and jurisdiction.

## Related excerpts

- [Strauss: Ein Heldenleben, violin solo](https://arcosounds.com/repertoire/violin/strauss-heldenleben-solo), The extended concertmaster solo depicting the hero’s companion. Standard at concertmaster auditions and a test of characterisation as much as technique. Audition; Late-Romantic; Treble clef. Standard audition excerpt.

Canonical source: https://arcosounds.com/repertoire/violin/strauss-don-juan-opening