in the romantic period many virtuoso violin works were written. these include concertos by mendelssohn, saint-saëns, brahms, bruch, wieniawski, tchaikovsky, and dvořák. in the 20th century, many virtuoso works were written. these include elgar, sibelius, szymanowski, bartók, stravinsky, berg, prokofiev, shostakovich, hindemith, and penderecki. in the 19th century, niccolò paganini was the most famous violinist. he composed and played violin music that was harder than anything that had been written before. people compared him to the devil because he could play so brilliantly and because he looked thin and moved his body about in strange ways.