Martinů’s work on the Concerto Suite began in late 1938 and continued in the early months of 1939 in Paris; it then continued in New York in May and June 1941. In October of the same year, Martinů returned to it once again, together with soloist Samuel Dushkin. Over time, the composition took on its definitive (significantly revised) form, consisting of the movements Toccata, Aria, Scherzo, and Rondo. The published edition includes an explicit note stating that the violin part was arranged by Dushkin. This underscores the obvious fact that the soloist is clearly at the forefront in this piece.
Only at the beginning of 1945 [Harry Halbreich mentions 1944], the Concertante Suite was orchestrated and, in fact, completed in its final form. The composition is described as a neo-Baroque cycle of virtuosic, self-contained movements, which, due to the difficult solo part thought out in detail by Dushkin, remains overlooked by violinists. For Martinů, the Concerto Suite was the result of an evidently difficult struggle to arrive at its final form, as evidenced by the existence of two versions.
The premiere of the first piano version took place on April 7, 1943, in New York. The violin solo was performed by Samuel Dushkins with piano accompaniment by Erich Itor Kahn. The first version of the Concertante Suite was never published.
Jaroslav Mihule, Martinů: Osud skladatele, Prague: Karolinum, 2002, p. 322 [completed by Zuzana Votavová, 2026].