Joseph Joachim (1831-1907), of Jewish-Hungarian descent, was arguably the greatest violinist of the nineteenth century. His performing career in Berlin transformed the aesthetics and interpretation of German music. But Joachim wasalso a composer of virtuoso pieces, violin concertos, orchestral overtures, and chamber music works, all written between 1849 and 1864 in one intense outpouring of creativity. Katharina Uhde follows Joachim's compositional path through a changing cultural milieu. Joachim's compositions display intimate knowledge of the works of Mendelssohn, Wagner, Liszt, Schumann and Brahms, yet he was no mere imitator. Joachim's style, classically conceived yetseasoned with a preference for dark, melancholy soundscapes and, in the earlier years, ciphers and "psychological" programmaticism, emerges as the product of various personal and socio-cultural currents: his search for national, religious and cultural identity and a mature compositional style. Joachim's music drew on a wealth of treasures accumulated in his process of "enculturation", which began with Mendelssohn in Leipzig, and his aesthetic evolved from a