midiviz

Violin MIDI files for #037 Violinist

48 MIDI files for the violinist experiment: 32 movements of Bach’s Sonatas and Partitas for solo violin (BWV 1001–1006, complete), 6 sonata movements with keyboard, 6 concerto movements and 4 showpieces. index.json lists them for a web page.

All files come from the Mutopia Project, whose pieces are engraved in LilyPond from public-domain editions and released under public domain or Creative Commons licences. The files are copied unchanged from Mutopia’s downloads (the multi-movement zips were unpacked and one movement taken).

What to know before using them

• Every file is mechanical. LilyPond writes the notation as MIDI: onsets on the grid, durations as written, one tempo per marking, no rubato. Most have a single velocity for every note; the Tchaikovsky finale, the Paganini caprices, Gounod and BWV 1042 turn the engraved dynamics into velocity steps (4 to 53 levels). No human-sequenced performance MIDI of these works with a free licence turned up (see Not included).
• Find the violin by track index, not by program. Ripieno violins in the concertos and the Beethoven Romance are also program 40. violinTrack in index.json is the track index in the SMF (track 0 is LilyPond’s tempo track); violinChannel is 0-based.
• Missing program changes. BWV 1001, 1002 and 1004 have no program change at all, so a GM synth plays them as piano: force program 40 on the violin channel (violinProgram: null in index.json). The BWV 1017 keyboard tracks also lack one (piano by default, which is fine).
• Tempo. Movements engraved without a metronome mark play at LilyPond’s default ♩=60, which is far off for many Bach movements (the C major Fuga takes 23.6 min as stored, the Gavotte en Rondeau plays at half speed). index.json has bpm (the file’s first tempo) and, for those files, suggestedBpm: an approximate quarter-note tempo of typical recordings. Playback rate = suggestedBpm / bpm. BWV 1002 (Partita 1), BWV 1004 Giga and all the ensemble pieces have engraved tempos.
• Repeats. LilyPond only writes repeats into MIDI when the engraver unfolded them; the durations below are the files as stored.
• Odd GM programs in the accompaniment. Bach BWV 1042 / 1043 put ripieno strings and continuo on program 6 (Harpsichord); the Beethoven concerto and Romance put horns and trumpets on program 69 (English horn). Remap if the accompaniment should sound like the orchestra.
• No merged parts. In every file the solo violin has its own track and channel; no file mixes the violin with other parts. Double stops and chords in the Bach and Paganini pieces are written as simultaneous notes on the one violin track (up to 4).
• Range. Four files have a single note below the violin’s open G (G3, MIDI 55), all engraving slips (see notes); the fingering engine should clamp or skip them. The Paganini caprices and the Beethoven / Tchaikovsky concertos go above C7 (to G7 = 103 in Caprice 1).

Their scores: bowing from the source

The MIDI files carry no articulation: every note touches the next, and nothing says which notes share a bow. Mutopia’s LilyPond sources do, so violinist/scores/ holds the source of every piece, only the files each score reads (243 files, 1.2 MB; the same licences as the MIDI files). index.json gives each entry a score: its main file, the files it reads, the staff (part, partName) that is the MIDI’s violin, and how well they agree (matched: the share of the MIDI’s violin notes found in the score at the same pitch and place, 95.3–100 %, 99.5 % overall). #034, #037 and #038 read it with strings/lilypond.js and put its slurs, marks and bowings on the MIDI’s notes (violinist/score-art.js), so the MIDI keeps its timing and the bow follows the score.

What the sources have:

• Slurs: in every piece but one. Of the note pairs, 0–60 % are slurred (20 % overall). Bach’s Corrente BWV 1004 has 60 %, the Adagio BWV 1001 51 %, the C major Fuga 3 %. Handel’s HWV 361 Andante has none: that edition left them out.
• Articulation marks (staccato, tenuto, accents) in the sonatas, concertos and showpieces: 4,000 marked notes. The Bach solo movements (Bach-Gesellschaft edition) have none.
• Up- and down-bow signs: almost none. Only the Tchaikovsky concerto has them (4 up, 68 down in the source). The other editions mark slurs and leave the bow direction to the player, as most do. The bow direction therefore still comes from alternating strokes, restarted on a down-bow after rests.

Printed editions with bowings (IMSLP). For Bach’s Sonatas and Partitas, two performing editions add the bowings the urtext leaves out: Eduard Herrmann (G. Schirmer, 1900, IMSLP #335779) and Leopold Auer (Carl Fischer, 1917, IMSLP #921334), both public domain. Their scans are read by optical music recognition with ScoreShift (../random-sketches/vibes/scoreshift). It reads the notes, slurs, staccato / tenuto / accent marks and ⊓ / V bow signs on each page. The pitches are then aligned onto the MIDI’s violin notes (5-note fingerprints to find the movement, then an edit-distance alignment), and the marks are stored per note in violinist/editions/<edition>.json (node violinist/tools/build_editions.js; the scans stay in the git-ignored strings/data/IMSLP). The results per edition, over the 32 movements:

	Herrmann 1900	Auer 1917
Notes found	91.5 %	85.1 %
Slurred note pairs (Mutopia’s BGA source on the same notes)	5,540 (4,161)	5,401 (3,708)
Mutopia’s slurred pairs also slurred in the edition	80.5 % (was 76.7, first 62.5)	73.7 % (was 69.0, first 55.5)
Slur agreement with Mutopia, all pairs	86.5 %	81.4 %
Bow signs	157 ⊓, 58 V	275 ⊓, 226 V

These figures are after ScoreShift learned to read slurs merged into note ink and bowing marks above beams (checked by eye on a few systems, see its README: Auer 22 → 25 of 36 slurs, Herrmann 12 of 12 with 1 false where it had 4, bowing marks 9 → 12 of about 14 on an Auer page). A slur running over a page turn is joined: a slur still open at the end of a page continues into the notes before the next page’s first slur end. Steep slurs that join two voices (a bass note up to the melody, or the top note down to the next voice) are now read too: 188 more slurs on the Herrmann pages, 310 on the Auer pages, which raised the share of Mutopia’s slurs the editions also have from 76.7 to 80.5 % (Herrmann) and 69.0 to 73.7 % (Auer). Preparing a listening comparison of the editions turned up slurs that never ended, running on for 50 to 450 notes (a Presto excerpt played as one long bow): ScoreShift’s MusicXML gave nested slurs and slurs to chords its bar check removed the same number or no stop, and our reader lost slurs that end on a grace note or stop in voice 1 before starting in voice 2. With those fixed no slur in either edition is longer than 26 notes, and the edition files have about 300–500 fewer slurred pairs, the ones those runaway slurs had added. node strings/test/ab_editions.js --all renders Mutopia, Herrmann and Auer bowings of five movements for listening (strings/data/compare/editions, on the comparison page). OMR still misses bowing marks fused with a beam, and steep slurs whose ends merge into a stem. Herrmann mostly keeps Bach’s slurs and marks bow strokes in the fugues and chords. Auer re-slurs more freely and marks bows throughout. In #037, Bowing: Herrmann / Auer appears for these movements. The bow signs set the stroke direction (strings/motion.js), which until now ignored them, the Tchaikovsky score’s included.

node violinist/tools/build_scores.js rebuilds violinist/scores and the score entries from the sources (node strings/test/fetch_mutopia_ly.js fetches them into the git-ignored strings/data/MutopiaLy).

Their performances: playing like a violinist

For the Sonatas and Partitas, violinist/performances holds how four violinists of the Bach Violin Dataset played these same MIDI notes (timing, dynamics, pitch curves; 47 recordings, public domain or CC BY), measured from their recordings and matched to the MIDI notes by pitch sequence (98 % found). #034 plays them under Performer, with the bowing from the score or an edition.

Files

Duration is as stored (at the file’s tempo). Violin track: index, track name, 0-based channel, GM program.

file	composer	piece	duration	solo violin track	other parts	source	licence	sequenced by	notes
bach_1001_1_adagio.mid	J. S. Bach	Sonata No. 1 in G minor, BWV 1001: I. Adagio	1:28	1 “” · ch 1 · none (→ set 40)	—	Mutopia #1429	CC BY-SA 3.0	Hajo Dezelski (Mutopia)	Mechanical (LilyPond), flat velocity. 518 violin notes D#3–A#5, chords up to 4. No tempo in file (♩=60); typical ≈ ♩=24. One note below the violin’s G3 (D#3 at 50 s), an engraving octave slip: raise it an octave or drop it.
bach_1001_2_fuga.mid	J. S. Bach	Sonata No. 1 in G minor, BWV 1001: II. Fuga (Allegro)	6:16	1 “” · ch 1 · none (→ set 40)	—	Mutopia #1438	CC BY-SA 3.0	Hajo Dezelski (Mutopia)	Mechanical (LilyPond), flat velocity. 1620 violin notes D#3–F6, chords up to 4. No tempo in file (♩=60); typical ≈ ♩=72. One note below G3 (D#3 at 310 s), an engraving slip: raise it an octave or drop it.
bach_1001_3_siciliana.mid	J. S. Bach	Sonata No. 1 in G minor, BWV 1001: III. Siciliana	1:55	1 “” · ch 1 · none (→ set 40)	—	Mutopia #1448	CC BY-SA 3.0	Hajo Dezelski (Mutopia)	Mechanical (LilyPond), flat velocity. 508 violin notes F3–D6, chords up to 4. No tempo in file (♩=60); typical ≈ ♩=38. One note below G3 (F3 at 114 s, the final chord), an engraving slip.
bach_1001_4_presto.mid	J. S. Bach	Sonata No. 1 in G minor, BWV 1001: IV. Presto	3:24	1 “” · ch 1 · none (→ set 40)	—	Mutopia #1439	CC BY-SA 3.0	Hajo Dezelski (Mutopia)	Mechanical (LilyPond), flat velocity. 811 violin notes G3–D6, chords up to 4. No tempo in file (♩=60); typical ≈ ♩=125.
bach_1002_1_allemanda.mid	J. S. Bach	Partita No. 1 in B minor, BWV 1002: I. Allemanda	3:15	1 “:B” · ch 0 · none (→ set 40)	—	Mutopia #180	Public domain	Erik Sandberg (Mutopia)	Mechanical (LilyPond), flat velocity. 536 violin notes G3–D6, chords up to 4. ♩=32. Tempos set per movement by the engraver (♩=32 here).
bach_1002_2_double.mid	J. S. Bach	Partita No. 1 in B minor, BWV 1002: II. Double	1:16	1 “:A” · ch 0 · none (→ set 40)	—	Mutopia #180	Public domain	Erik Sandberg (Mutopia)	Mechanical (LilyPond), flat velocity. 380 violin notes G3–D6, single line. ♩=76.
bach_1002_3_corrente.mid	J. S. Bach	Partita No. 1 in B minor, BWV 1002: III. Corrente	1:51	1 “:A” · ch 0 · none (→ set 40)	—	Mutopia #180	Public domain	Erik Sandberg (Mutopia)	Mechanical (LilyPond), flat velocity. 476 violin notes G3–D6, chords up to 3. ♩=130.
bach_1002_4_double_presto.mid	J. S. Bach	Partita No. 1 in B minor, BWV 1002: IV. Double (Presto)	2:12	1 “:A” · ch 0 · none (→ set 40)	—	Mutopia #180	Public domain	Erik Sandberg (Mutopia)	Mechanical (LilyPond), flat velocity. 955 violin notes G#3–E6, single line. ♩=109.
bach_1002_5_sarabande.mid	J. S. Bach	Partita No. 1 in B minor, BWV 1002: V. Sarabande	1:48	1 “:A” · ch 0 · none (→ set 40)	—	Mutopia #180	Public domain	Erik Sandberg (Mutopia)	Mechanical (LilyPond), flat velocity. 268 violin notes G3–C6, chords up to 4. ♩=55.
bach_1002_6_double.mid	J. S. Bach	Partita No. 1 in B minor, BWV 1002: VI. Double	1:06	1 “:A” · ch 0 · none (→ set 40)	—	Mutopia #180	Public domain	Erik Sandberg (Mutopia)	Mechanical (LilyPond), flat velocity. 299 violin notes G3–C#6, single line. ♩=140.
bach_1002_7_borea.mid	J. S. Bach	Partita No. 1 in B minor, BWV 1002: VII. Tempo di Borea	1:57	1 “:A” · ch 0 · none (→ set 40)	—	Mutopia #180	Public domain	Erik Sandberg (Mutopia)	Mechanical (LilyPond), flat velocity. 533 violin notes G3–E6, chords up to 4. ♩=140.
bach_1002_8_double.mid	J. S. Bach	Partita No. 1 in B minor, BWV 1002: VIII. Double	1:42	1 “:A” · ch 0 · none (→ set 40)	—	Mutopia #180	Public domain	Erik Sandberg (Mutopia)	Mechanical (LilyPond), flat velocity. 554 violin notes G3–E6, chords up to 3. ♩=160.
bach_1003_1_grave.mid	J. S. Bach	Sonata No. 2 in A minor, BWV 1003: I. Grave	1:32	1 “” · ch 1 · 40	—	Mutopia #1449	CC BY-SA 3.0	Hajo Dezelski (Mutopia)	Mechanical (LilyPond), flat velocity. 543 violin notes G3–D6, chords up to 4. No tempo in file (♩=60); typical ≈ ♩=24.
bach_1003_2_fuga.mid	J. S. Bach	Sonata No. 2 in A minor, BWV 1003: II. Fuga	9:38	1 “” · ch 1 · 40	—	Mutopia #1455	CC BY-SA 3.0	Hajo Dezelski (Mutopia)	Mechanical (LilyPond), flat velocity. 2365 violin notes G3–D6, chords up to 4. No tempo in file (♩=60); typical ≈ ♩=75.
bach_1003_3_andante.mid	J. S. Bach	Sonata No. 2 in A minor, BWV 1003: III. Andante	1:27	1 “” · ch 1 · 40	—	Mutopia #1456	CC BY-SA 3.0	Hajo Dezelski (Mutopia)	Mechanical (LilyPond), flat velocity. 422 violin notes G3–C6, chords up to 4. No tempo in file (♩=60); typical ≈ ♩=36.
bach_1003_4_allegro.mid	J. S. Bach	Sonata No. 2 in A minor, BWV 1003: IV. Allegro	3:52	1 “” · ch 1 · 40	—	Mutopia #1457	CC BY-SA 3.0	Hajo Dezelski (Mutopia)	Mechanical (LilyPond), flat velocity. 1021 violin notes G3–E6, chords up to 2. No tempo in file (♩=60); typical ≈ ♩=88.
bach_1004_1_allemanda.mid	J. S. Bach	Partita No. 2 in D minor, BWV 1004: I. Allemanda	2:08	1 “” · ch 1 · none (→ set 40)	—	Mutopia #1423	CC BY-SA 3.0	Hajo Dezelski (Mutopia)	Mechanical (LilyPond), flat velocity. 545 violin notes G#3–D6, chords up to 4. No tempo in file (♩=60); typical ≈ ♩=56.
bach_1004_2_corrente.mid	J. S. Bach	Partita No. 2 in D minor, BWV 1004: II. Corrente	2:42	1 “” · ch 1 · none (→ set 40)	—	Mutopia #1424	CC BY-SA 3.0	Hajo Dezelski (Mutopia)	Mechanical (LilyPond), flat velocity. 429 violin notes G3–D6, chords up to 3. No tempo in file (♩=60); typical ≈ ♩=130. Dotted / triplet rhythms, so fewer onsets on a 1/32 grid; still notation-exact.
bach_1004_3_sarabanda.mid	J. S. Bach	Partita No. 2 in D minor, BWV 1004: III. Sarabanda	1:30	1 “” · ch 1 · none (→ set 40)	—	Mutopia #1427	CC BY-SA 3.0	Benjamin D. Esham (Mutopia)	Mechanical (LilyPond), flat velocity. 307 violin notes G3–A#5, chords up to 4. No tempo in file (♩=60); typical ≈ ♩=45.
bach_1004_4_giga.mid	J. S. Bach	Partita No. 2 in D minor, BWV 1004: IV. Giga	2:13	1 “” · ch 1 · none (→ set 40)	—	Mutopia #1428	CC BY-SA 3.0	Benjamin D. Esham (Mutopia)	Mechanical (LilyPond), flat velocity. 908 violin notes G3–D6, single line. ♩=108.
bach_1004_5_ciaccona.mid	J. S. Bach	Partita No. 2 in D minor, BWV 1004: V. Ciaccona (Chaconne)	12:50	1 “” · ch 0 · none (→ set 40)	—	Mutopia #1426	CC BY-SA 3.0	Hajo Dezelski (Mutopia)	Mechanical (LilyPond), flat velocity. 3085 violin notes G3–G6, chords up to 4. No tempo in file (♩=60); typical ≈ ♩=55. Whole Chaconne (257 bars) in one file.
bach_1005_1_adagio.mid	J. S. Bach	Sonata No. 3 in C major, BWV 1005: I. Adagio	2:21	1 “” · ch 1 · 40	—	Mutopia #1458	CC BY-SA 3.0	Hajo Dezelski (Mutopia)	Mechanical (LilyPond), flat velocity. 554 violin notes G3–C6, chords up to 4. No tempo in file (♩=60); typical ≈ ♩=31.
bach_1005_2_fuga.mid	J. S. Bach	Sonata No. 3 in C major, BWV 1005: II. Fuga (Alla breve)	23:38	1 “” · ch 1 · 40	—	Mutopia #1466	CC BY-SA 3.0	Hajo Dezelski (Mutopia)	Mechanical (LilyPond), flat velocity. 3039 violin notes G3–G6, chords up to 4. No tempo in file (♩=60); typical ≈ ♩=135. Alla breve written as 4/4 at ♩=60: about 23.6 min as stored, ~10.5 min at the suggested tempo.
bach_1005_3_largo.mid	J. S. Bach	Sonata No. 3 in C major, BWV 1005: III. Largo	1:24	1 “” · ch 1 · 40	—	Mutopia #1467	CC BY-SA 3.0	Hajo Dezelski (Mutopia)	Mechanical (LilyPond), flat velocity. 416 violin notes G3–D6, chords up to 4. No tempo in file (♩=60); typical ≈ ♩=28.
bach_1005_4_allegro_assai.mid	J. S. Bach	Sonata No. 3 in C major, BWV 1005: IV. Allegro assai	5:06	1 “” · ch 1 · 40	—	Mutopia #1468	CC BY-SA 3.0	Hajo Dezelski (Mutopia)	Mechanical (LilyPond), flat velocity. 1196 violin notes G3–G6, single line. No tempo in file (♩=60); typical ≈ ♩=125.
bach_1006_1_preludio.mid	J. S. Bach	Partita No. 3 in E major, BWV 1006: I. Preludio	6:54	1 “” · ch 1 · 40	—	Mutopia #1469	CC BY-SA 3.0	Hajo Dezelski (Mutopia)	Mechanical (LilyPond), flat velocity. 1635 violin notes G#3–E6, chords up to 4. No tempo in file (♩=60); typical ≈ ♩=112.
bach_1006_2_loure.mid	J. S. Bach	Partita No. 3 in E major, BWV 1006: II. Loure	2:26	1 “” · ch 1 · 40	—	Mutopia #1470	CC BY-SA 3.0	Hajo Dezelski (Mutopia)	Mechanical (LilyPond), flat velocity. 289 violin notes A#3–C#6, chords up to 3. No tempo in file (♩=60); typical ≈ ♩=70.
bach_1006_3_gavotte.mid	J. S. Bach	Partita No. 3 in E major, BWV 1006: III. Gavotte en Rondeau	6:44	1 “” · ch 1 · 40	—	Mutopia #1471	CC BY-SA 3.0	Hajo Dezelski (Mutopia)	Mechanical (LilyPond), flat velocity. 763 violin notes B3–D6, chords up to 4. No tempo in file (♩=60); typical ≈ ♩=128. Cut time stored as 4/4 at ♩=60: plays at half speed.
bach_1006_4_menuet_1.mid	J. S. Bach	Partita No. 3 in E major, BWV 1006: IV. Menuet I	1:42	1 “” · ch 1 · 40	—	Mutopia #1472	CC BY-SA 3.0	Hajo Dezelski (Mutopia)	Mechanical (LilyPond), flat velocity. 214 violin notes G#3–B5, chords up to 4. No tempo in file (♩=60); typical ≈ ♩=120.
bach_1006_5_menuet_2.mid	J. S. Bach	Partita No. 3 in E major, BWV 1006: V. Menuet II	1:36	1 “” · ch 1 · 40	—	Mutopia #1473	CC BY-SA 3.0	Hajo Dezelski (Mutopia)	Mechanical (LilyPond), flat velocity. 180 violin notes B3–B5, chords up to 3. No tempo in file (♩=60); typical ≈ ♩=110.
bach_1006_6_bourree.mid	J. S. Bach	Partita No. 3 in E major, BWV 1006: VI. Bourrée	2:25	1 “” · ch 1 · 40	—	Mutopia #1474	CC BY-SA 3.0	Hajo Dezelski (Mutopia)	Mechanical (LilyPond), flat velocity. 275 violin notes B3–B5, chords up to 2. No tempo in file (♩=60); typical ≈ ♩=160.
bach_1006_7_gigue.mid	J. S. Bach	Partita No. 3 in E major, BWV 1006: VII. Gigue	1:37	1 “” · ch 1 · 40	—	Mutopia #1475	CC BY-SA 3.0	Hajo Dezelski (Mutopia)	Mechanical (LilyPond), flat velocity. 333 violin notes A3–B5, single line. No tempo in file (♩=60); typical ≈ ♩=115.
bach_1017_1_siciliano.mid	J. S. Bach	Sonata for Violin and Harpsichord No. 4 in C minor, BWV 1017: I. Siciliano (Largo)	1:51	1 “Violino.” · ch 1 · 40	2 RHOne (no prog), 3 LHOne (no prog)	Mutopia #1733	Public domain	Ryan Prince (Mutopia)	Mechanical (LilyPond), flat velocity. 164 violin notes D4–C#6, single line. ♩=60. Harpsichord right / left hand on tracks 2–3 with no program change (GM piano by default).
handel_hwv361_1_andante.mid	G. F. Handel	Violin Sonata in A major, HWV 361 (Op. 1 No. 3): I. Andante	1:28	1 “\new” · ch 0 · 40	2 upper (Piano), 3 lower (Piano)	Mutopia #652	CC BY-SA 2.5	Felix Hammer (Mutopia)	Mechanical (LilyPond), flat velocity. 154 violin notes C#4–B5, single line. ♩=60. Piano realisation of the continuo (Sitt edition).
mozart_k379_1_adagio.mid	W. A. Mozart	Violin Sonata in G major, K. 379: I. Adagio	2:29	2 “\new” · ch 1 · 40	3 upper (Piano), 4 lower (Piano)	Mutopia #571	Public domain	Maurizio Tomasi (Mutopia)	Mechanical (LilyPond), flat velocity. 124 violin notes G3–D6, chords up to 3. ♩=40. Track 1 is empty (LilyPond staff group), the violin is track 2. Ornaments / grace notes make many onsets fall off the grid.
beethoven_op30_2_1_allegro.mid	L. van Beethoven	Violin Sonata No. 7 in C minor, Op. 30 No. 2: I. Allegro con brio	7:20	1 “one” · ch 1 · 40	2 two (Piano), 3 three (Piano)	Mutopia #945	Public domain	Stelios Samelis (Mutopia)	Mechanical (LilyPond), flat velocity. 1417 violin notes F3–G6, chords up to 3. ♩=138. One note below G3 (F3 at 353 s), an engraving slip.
beethoven_kreutzer_1.mid	L. van Beethoven	Violin Sonata No. 9 in A, Op. 47 “Kreutzer”: I. Adagio sostenuto – Presto	12:21	1 “one” · ch 1 · 40	2 two (Piano), 3 three (Piano)	Mutopia #922	Public domain	Stelios Samelis (Mutopia)	Mechanical (LilyPond), flat velocity, 2 tempo marks. 2894 violin notes G3–C7, chords up to 4. ♩=32. Adagio sostenuto introduction (♩=32) then Presto; 12.3 min.
beethoven_kreutzer_3_presto.mid	L. van Beethoven	Violin Sonata No. 9 in A, Op. 47 “Kreutzer”: III. Presto	8:16	1 “one” · ch 1 · 40	2 two (Piano), 3 three (Piano)	Mutopia #923	Public domain	Stelios Samelis (Mutopia)	Mechanical (LilyPond), flat velocity. 2208 violin notes G3–G6, chords up to 3. ♩=252.
bach_1042_1_allegro.mid	J. S. Bach	Violin Concerto in E major, BWV 1042: I. Allegro	6:19	1 “:SoloViolin” · ch 0 · 40	2 :ViolinI (Harpsichord), 3 :ViolinII (Harpsichord), 4 :Viola (Harpsichord), 5 :Continuo (Harpsichord)	Mutopia #29	Public domain	David Chan (Mutopia)	Mechanical (LilyPond), 4 velocity levels. 2455 violin notes G#3–E6, chords up to 3. ♩=110. Ripieno strings and continuo use program 6 (Harpsichord) as engraved; remap to strings (48 / 40–42) for a natural sound.
bach_1043_1_vivace.mid	J. S. Bach	Concerto for Two Violins in D minor, BWV 1043: I. Vivace	3:31	1 “” · ch 0 · 40	2 :SoloViolinII (Violin), 3 – (Harpsichord), 4 :ViolinII (Harpsichord), 5 :Viola (Harpsichord), 6 :Continuo (Harpsichord)	Mutopia #3	Public domain	David Chan (Mutopia)	Mechanical (LilyPond), flat velocity. 860 violin notes G3–D6, single line. ♩=100. Two solo violins: Solo I = track 1 (ch 0), Solo II = track 2 (ch 1, program 40). Ripieno strings and continuo use program 6 (Harpsichord).
vivaldi_spring_1.mid	A. Vivaldi	The Four Seasons, Op. 8 No. 1 “La Primavera” (Spring), RV 269: I. Allegro	2:51	1 “solo” · ch 1 · 40	2 violinone (Violin), 3 violintwo (Violin), 4 viola (Viola), 5 cello (Cello)	Mutopia #301	CC BY-SA 3.0	smailliw (at) gmail.com (Mutopia)	Mechanical (LilyPond), flat velocity. 820 violin notes A3–G#6, single line. ♩=115. Ripieno violins are also program 40: pick the solo by track name “solo”, not by program.
vivaldi_winter_1.mid	A. Vivaldi	The Four Seasons, Op. 8 No. 4 “L’Inverno” (Winter), RV 297: I. Allegro non molto	1:48	1 “solo” · ch 1 · 40	2 violinone (Violin), 3 violintwo (Violin), 4 viola (Viola), 5 cello (Cello)	Mutopia #351	CC BY-SA 3.0	smailliw (at) gmail.com (Mutopia)	Mechanical (LilyPond), flat velocity. 1027 violin notes A#3–G6, chords up to 2. ♩=140. Ripieno violins are also program 40: pick the solo by track name “solo”.
beethoven_concerto_3.mid	L. van Beethoven	Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 61: III. Rondo (Allegro)	8:27	8 “eight” · ch 8 · 40	1 one (Flute), 2 two (Oboe), 3 three (Clarinet), 4 four (Bassoon), 5 five (English horn), 6 six (English horn), 7 seven (Timpani), 9 nine (Violin), 10 ten (Violin), 11 eleven (Viola), 12 twelve (Cello), 13 thirteen (Contrabass)	Mutopia #1165	Public domain	Stelios Samelis (Mutopia)	Mechanical (LilyPond), flat velocity. 2018 violin notes G3–D7, chords up to 3. ♩=128. Tracks are named “one”…”thirteen”; solo identified by range (G3–D7) and density. Orchestra violins (tracks 9–10) are also program 40. Horns / trumpets use program 69 (English horn).
tchaikovsky_concerto_3.mid	P. I. Tchaikovsky	Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 35: III. Finale (Allegro vivacissimo)	9:26	10 “solo:” · ch 10 · 40	1 flauti: (Flute), 2 flauti2: (Flute), 3 oboi: (Oboe), 4 clarinetti: (Clarinet), 5 fagotti: (Bassoon), 6 corni_first: (French horn), 7 corni_second: (French horn), 8 trumpet: (Trumpet), 9 timpani: (Timpani), 11 violin_one: (Strings), 12 violin_two: (Strings), 13 viola: (Strings), 14 violincello: (Strings), 15 contrabass: (Strings)	Mutopia #466	Public domain	Will Oram (Mutopia)	Mechanical (LilyPond), 53 velocity levels, 20 tempo marks. 3313 violin notes G3–E7, chords up to 4. ♩=155. 20 tempo changes; real dynamics (53 velocity levels); orchestral strings on program 48 with pizzicato switches.
paganini_caprice_24.mid	N. Paganini	24 Caprices, Op. 1: No. 24 in A minor (Tema con variazioni)	2:12	1 “” · ch 0 · 40	—	Mutopia #2000	CC BY-SA 4.0	Samuel Rummel (Mutopia)	Mechanical (LilyPond), 6 velocity levels. 1593 violin notes G3–F7, chords up to 4. ♩=186. Switches to program 45 (Pizzicato Strings) for the left-hand pizzicato variation and back to 40.
paganini_caprice_1.mid	N. Paganini	24 Caprices, Op. 1: No. 1 in E major (Andante)	2:33	1 “” · ch 0 · 40	—	Mutopia #995	CC BY-SA 3.0	Andrew Buck (Mutopia)	Mechanical (LilyPond), 17 velocity levels. 1242 violin notes G3–G7, chords up to 3. No tempo in file (♩=60); typical ≈ ♩=80. Ricochet arpeggios across all four strings.
gounod_ave_maria.mid	C. Gounod	Ave Maria (Méditation sur le 1er Prélude de J. S. Bach), violin and piano	4:26	1 “violin:” · ch 0 · 40	2 up: (Piano), 3 down: (Piano)	Mutopia #2167	Public domain	Yann Leprince (Mutopia)	Mechanical (LilyPond), 13 velocity levels. 211 violin notes G3–E6, single line. ♩=66. Piano plays the Bach C major prelude (BWV 846) underneath.
beethoven_romance_2.mid	L. van Beethoven	Romance No. 2 in F major, Op. 50, violin and orchestra	8:33	5 “five” · ch 5 · 40	1 one (Flute), 2 two (Oboe), 3 three (Bassoon), 4 four (English horn), 6 six (Violin), 7 seven (Violin), 8 eight (Viola), 9 nine (Cello)	Mutopia #911	Public domain	Stelios Samelis (Mutopia)	Mechanical (LilyPond), flat velocity. 847 violin notes G3–C7, chords up to 2. ♩=48. Tracks named “one”…”nine”; solo = track 5 by range (G3–C7). Orchestra violins (tracks 6–7) are also program 40; horns on program 69 (English horn).

Licences and credit

• Public domain files use Mutopia’s public-domain dedication (the old Creative Commons “Public Domain” deed): no conditions.
• CC BY-SA 2.5 / 3.0 / 4.0 files (all of BWV 1001, 1003–1006, Handel HWV 361, Vivaldi, the Paganini caprices) need attribution and keep the same licence when redistributed or modified, including edited MIDI (for example a re-tempoed copy). Credit line: *“, from the Mutopia Project (mutopiaproject.org), typeset by , licensed CC BY-SA "*. The `credit` field in index.json holds the maintainer part.
• The Vivaldi engraver is only identified on Mutopia as “smailliw (at) gmail.com”; credit as given.
• BWV 1002 (Partita 1) was engraved by Erik Sandberg from a reproduction of Bach’s autograph, Public domain.

Also on Mutopia, not copied

Free under the same terms, left out to keep the set near 40 files:

• Bach: BWV 1041 (solo part only, no orchestra, #2051); BWV 1042 II–III and BWV 1043 II–III (#29, #3); BWV 1017 II–IV (#1733)
• Vivaldi: Summer and Autumn (#336, #350), Spring and Winter II–III; L’estro armonico Op. 3 (#2048)
• Beethoven: Violin Concerto I–II (#990, #1021), Romance No. 1 Op. 40 (#944), Sonata Op. 30/2 IV (#946)
• Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto I–II (#466, same zip as the finale)
• Mozart K. 379 II–III (#571), Handel HWV 361 II–IV and HWV 370 (#654)
• Paganini Caprices 2, 3, 23 (#996, #1459, #1999), Sonata No. 10 for violin and cello (#1950)
• Dvořák 4 Romantic Pieces Op. 4 (#1948), Laub Romanze Op. 7 (#1949), Rieding Concerto Op. 35 (#1781), Reger solo sonatas Op. 42 (#1025, #1522), Eccles Sonata in G minor (#540)

Not included

Searched and not found under a free licence (as of 18 Oct 2026): Mendelssohn E minor concerto, Bruch G minor, Brahms concerto and sonatas, Sibelius, Mozart concertos, Beethoven “Spring” Op. 24, Franck sonata, Tartini “Devil’s Trill”, Corelli Op. 5, Massenet Méditation (violin version), Elgar Salut d’amour, Kreisler, Sarasate Zigeunerweisen, Saint-Saëns Introduction et Rondo capriccioso, Monti Csárdás. Kreisler (d. 1962) and Sibelius (d. 1957, public domain in the EU only from 2028) are still under copyright in many countries, so their scores and any MIDI made from them are not free anyway. Mutopia has none of them. The IMSLP work pages checked (Mendelssohn, Bruch, Brahms and Sibelius concertos, Beethoven Op. 24, Franck, Tartini, Elgar, Sarasate, Saint-Saëns, Monti, Massenet’s Thaïs) list no MIDI with a violin part; Mendelssohn has only an MP3 accompaniment track (the Thaïs page’s one MIDI, CC BY-SA 4.0 by Pierre Gouin, is an organ arrangement with no violin part); Wikimedia Commons only has short excerpts (a few bars of the Franck sonata opening, Berg’s concerto melody, a Mozart cadenza).

Good but restricted sources, not included because their terms forbid redistribution in a public repo:

source	what it has	why not
kunstderfuge.com	Large classical MIDI archive incl. Bach violin works, many concertos and showpieces, some performance-sequenced	Personal use only
piano-midi.de	Expressive human-sequenced MIDI	Piano only; licence restricts redistribution
Classical Archives	Many sequenced violin concertos / sonatas	Subscription; files copyrighted by their sequencers
Dave’s J.S. Bach Page	All of BWV 1001–1006, sequenced by David J. Grossman, plus the violin / harpsichord sonatas and concertos	Marked “©1997” with no licence, so no permission to redistribute
MuseScore.com community scores	Most of the missing repertoire	MIDI download requires login; user arrangements, licences vary

Reproducing the inspection

Each file was parsed twice in Node 26: with a small SMF parser (tracks, channels, program changes, note counts, ranges, polyphony, tempo map) and with ../../tonejs-midi.js (new Midi(buf)); note counts and durations agree for all 48 files.