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Max Christian Friedrich Bruch (January 6, 1838 – October 2, 1920) also known as
Max Karl August Bruch, was a German Romantic composer and conductor who wrote over
200 works, including three violin concertos, one of which is a staple of the violin
repertoire.
Bruch was born in Cologne, Rhine Province, where he received his early musical
training under the composer and pianist Ferdinand Hiller, to whom Robert Schumann
dedicated his piano concerto. Ignaz Moscheles recognized his aptitude. He had a
long career as a teacher, conductor and composer, moving among musical posts in
Germany: Mannheim (1862-1864), Koblenz (1865-1867), Sondershausen, (1867-1870)
Berlin (1870-1872), Bonn, where he spent 1873 -1878 working privately. At the
height of his reputation he spent three seasons as conductor of the Royal Liverpool
Philharmonic Society (1880-83). He taught composition at the Berlin Hochschule für
Musik (the Berlin Conservatoire) from 1890 until his retirement in 1910.
His conservatively structured works, in the German romantic musical tradition,
placed him in the camp of Romantic classicism exemplified by Johannes Brahms,
rather than the opposing "New Music" of Franz Liszt and Richard Wagner. In his
time, he was known primarily as a choral composer.
His Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor, Op. 26 (1866) is one of the most popular
Romantic violin concertos. It uses several techniques from Felix Mendelssohn's
Violin Concerto in E minor. These include the linking of movements, and a departure
from the customary orchestral exposition and rigid form of earlier concertos. It is
a singularly melodic composition which many critics have said represents the apex
of the romantic tradition.
Other pieces which are also well-known and widely played include the Scottish
Fantasy for violin and orchestra which includes an arrangement of the tune "Hey
Tuttie Tatie", best known for its use of the song Scots Wha Hae by Robert Burns.
Bruch also wrote Kol Nidrei, Op. 47, a popular work for cello and orchestra (its
subtitle is "Adagio on Hebrew Melodies for Violoncello and Orchestra"). This piece
was based on Hebrew melodies, principally the melody of the Kol Nidre prayer, which
gives the piece its name. The success of this work has made many assume that Bruch
himself had Jewish ancestry, but there is no evidence for this.
Other works include two other concerti for violin and orchestra (which Bruch
himself regarded as at least as fine as the famous first); a Concerto for Two
Pianos and Orchestra; and a Concerto for Viola, Clarinet and Orchestra. There are
also 3 symphonies, which, while not displaying any originality in form or
structure, nevertheless show Bruch at his best as a composer of fine melodic talent
and a gift for orchestration, firmly in the tradition of the Romantics. He wrote a
number of chamber works, including a set of eight pieces for piano, clarinet, and
viola and a string octet.
The violinists Joseph Joachim and Willy Hess advised Bruch on composing for
strings, and Hess performed the premieres of a number of works by Bruch, including
the Concert Piece for Violin and Orchestra, Op. 84, which was composed for him.
Bruch died in his house in Berlin-Friedenau.
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from a Wikipedia article and is licensed under the GNU Documentation
License. ©2008 www.geneticmatrix.com.
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Max
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