Considering how many composers are forgotten once they’re gone, German Max Bruch is one of the great lucky ones. His first violin concerto, Scottish Fantasy and Kol Nidrei (for cello and orchestra) are everywhere. But the rest of the 200-or-so pieces he wrote go unplayed.
- Classical Music 101: What Does A Conductor Do? - June 17, 2019
- Classical Music 101 | What Does Period Instrument Mean? - May 6, 2019
- CLASSICAL MUSIC 101 | What Does It Mean To Be In Tune? - April 23, 2019
On the day that marks the 175 anniversary of his birth in Cologne (he died on Oct. 2, 1920 in a Berlin suburb), I can’t help wonder why so many people treat every work by a Great Composer like Mozart or Beethoven or Brahms as a treasure, while cherrypicking through the output of someone like Max Bruch.
From what I’ve read, Bruch was hailed in his day as a great choral composer, known for sweeping cantatas on themes from antiquity. He wrote three operas early in his professional life. There are three violin concertos, not just the one we hear all the time. And there are three symphonies and quite a bit of chamber music.
Bruch was an eager fan of incorporating folk elements into his work, and wrote in a fairly conservative style. His music is accessible, but it’s not simplistic. There is a lot going on, and the surface is pretty, so one can listen any number of ways.
I think this Bruch anniversary is good reason to listen to some samples of his less-known music, to see how beautiful even his obscure pieces are.
I’ll start with what is probably least appealing to a 21st century listener — overwrought late-Romantic vocal writing. This is the opening of the second of four parts of the oratorio Moses, which had its premiere in 1895:
Here is an Ave Maria set without words for cello and orchestra, from his cantata Das Feuerkreuz (The Fiery Cross), published in 1889:
I have a soft spot for late-Romantic piano quintets, and Bruch wrote a gorgeous one in which he lays out the musical themes with a keen sense of narrative flow. This is also a beautiful performance by members of the Ensemble Ulf Hoelscher, from a 1999 CPO album:
Bruch wrote several chamber pieces for viola and piano. Here is the third of a set of eight, in a performance from a viola festival in Montreal in 2009:
Here is the opening movement of a posthumously published String Octet, in a live performance in the Small Hall at the Concertgebouw last year led by violinist Liviu Prunaru:
And, to end with some Sturm und Drang, here is Bruch’s Symphony No. 2, which sounds very, very Brahmsian — but keep in mind it was published in 1860, so it predates Brahms’s final version of his first symphony by about 15 years. This is a performance conducted by James Conlon from a 2009 EMI album:
John Terauds
- Classical Music 101: What Does A Conductor Do? - June 17, 2019
- Classical Music 101 | What Does Period Instrument Mean? - May 6, 2019
- CLASSICAL MUSIC 101 | What Does It Mean To Be In Tune? - April 23, 2019
