From the Archives - Audio Time Machine: Great Violinists

By Frank Byrne,

Sam Wisman

Published September 28, 2026 at 10:11 AM CDT

Do you believe in time travel? Thanks to the miracle of recorded sound, we can hear ten of the greatest violinists of the early to mid-20th century with recordings from as early as 1903. We’ll get a glimpse into performance traditions of the 19th century and know how Joachim, Ysaye, Sarasate, Kreisler and others actually sounded.

Compositions and Recordings

Hungarian Dance No. 1
by Johannes Brahms
Joseph Joachim, violin

Violin Concerto - 3rd mvt
by Felix Mendelssohn
Eugene Ysaye, violin

Zigeunerweisen
by Pablo de Sarasate
Jascha Heifetz, violin

Violin Concerto - 3rd mvt
by Johannes Brahms
Leo Blech and the Berlin Radio Symphony
Fritz Kreisler, violin

Nocturne in C# minor
by Frederic Chopin
Nathan Milstein, violin

Sonata in D major
by George Frederic Handel
George Enescu, violin

Slavonic Dance Op. 72/2
by Antonin Dvorak
David Oistrakh, violin

Caprice No. 5
by Nicolo Paganini
Michael Rabin, violin

Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso
by Camille Saint-Saens
Ivry Gitlis, violin