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The violin, as the leading member of the string group, has had many functions in the history of music. This publication focuses on its role as a solo instrument, both in instrumental concerts and in numerous compositions with the partner participation, mostly of a keyboard instrument, or without accompaniment. The exposition follows violin work from its beginnings in the early Baroque in all significant developmental trends and provenances. It devotes adequate space to the work of the first great violinists, with special attention of course being paid to the great Baroque syntheses of Bach and Handel, to the representatives of Viennese Classicism, who brought the genre to the threshold of Romanticism, and to the key phenomenon of the violin genius Niccolò Paganini. Even in later developments, the author, in addition to composers who achieved a supreme synthesis of the solo violin with an orchestral or piano component, does not neglect the rich work of composing virtuosos who contributed mainly to the use of the technical possibilities of the instrument. In 20th-century works of various styles including neofolklorism, neoclassicism, New Objectivity and expressionism, he particularly notes the integration of the solo part as the culmination of violin work to date. He also traces the main currents of the second half of the 20th century from serialism through the so-called New Music and Minimalism to postmodern neo-romantic tendencies.