The Concerto for violin and orchestra was completed in 1966, being dedicated to the violinist Mikhail Vaiman, its first performer.
The Concerto continues the thread of the most dramatic opuses in Basner's creation, such as the symphony and the Third quartet. Those were the Great Patriotic War memories to evoke the Concerto's psychological sphere, especially aggravated by the composer's visit to Oswincim, the former concentration camp of the fascists prisoners.
The composition does not have special literary programme, however, its construction is based on concealed dramatic action. This is the combat between the Kindness and the Evil, Cruelty and Tenderness leading to the manifested protest against the fascism and violence. The musical contours here are stern, severe and keen. The orchestral facture is woven of distinct bare lines' contradiction, timber independence and unyielding disposition, achieved by means of orchestration. E. g., the violin is absent in the score, emerging only as the solo instrument. The group of percussions is numerous and ample.
Here it's worth to remember some graphic anti-militaristic posters by B. Prorokov, so as the drawings and painted works by the Kukryniks (society of artists Kupriyanov, Krylov, Sokolov).