Max Bruch
German Romantic best known for his lyrical Violin Concerto No. 1
1838
1920
German
Romantic
Violin Concerto No. 1, Kol Nidrei
Early life
Max Bruch was born on 6 January 1838 in Cologne. His mother, a singer and piano teacher, gave him his first musical instruction, and by the age of nine he had begun composing. He studied with Ferdinand Hiller and Carl Reinecke and won the Frankfurt Mozart Foundation prize at fourteen for a symphony. His early career took him to Mannheim, Koblenz, and Sondershausen as a conductor and teacher, and in 1880 he became conductor of the Liverpool Philharmonic Society, a post he held for three years. He subsequently directed the Breslau Orchestral Society before settling in Berlin as professor of composition at the Prussian Academy of Arts in 1891, where he taught until his retirement in 1910.
Career and major works
Bruch's fame rests overwhelmingly on his Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor (1866, revised 1867), one of the most frequently performed violin concertos in the repertoire, its lyrical first movement and passionate finale beloved by audiences and violinists alike. He was keenly aware that this single work overshadowed everything else he composed — a source of lasting frustration. His other significant works include the Scottish Fantasy for violin and orchestra (1880), which draws on Scottish folk melodies; Kol Nidrei for cello and orchestra (1881), based on Hebrew liturgical melodies and one of the finest short works for cello; three symphonies; the Violin Concerto No. 2; the Concerto for Two Pianos; and a substantial body of choral music, including the oratorio Odysseus (1872) and numerous secular choral works that were highly regarded in his lifetime.
Musical style and legacy
Bruch's musical language is firmly rooted in the German Romantic tradition of Mendelssohn and Schumann. His music is characterised by long-breathed, singing melodies, warm orchestral textures, and a natural understanding of the capabilities of the violin. While his essentially conservative style fell out of critical favour in the early twentieth century, the enduring popularity of the G minor Concerto and Kol Nidrei has ensured his place in the standard repertoire. He died in Berlin on 2 October 1920.