Post by erik on Apr 2, 2022 18:08:54 GMT -5
The German composer Max Bruch is in this week's Classical Works Spotlight with one of the high points in the violin repertoire--a work that is a violin concerto in all but actual name.
Bruch: SCOTTISH FANTASY (FOR VIOLIN AND ORCHESTRA), OP. 46
One of the longest living composers in history, with a life that began in 1838, just eleven years after Beethoven’s death, and came to an end in 1920, just seven years after Stravinsky’s The Rite Of Spring premiered, Max Bruch was known for being firmly ensconced in the German Romantic tradition, but much more in the mode of Johannes Brahms rather than the flaming radicalism of Richard Wagner. In his time, among other things, he composed three symphonies, plus two full-fledged violin concertos, the first of which (the G Minor) remains a staple of violinists the world over, and whose popularity matches those of other violin concertos by Beethoven, Brahms, and Mendelssohn. But another piece for violin and orchestra by Bruch has also attained extreme popularity: his Scottish Fantasy. Composed in 1880 and dedicated to the legendary French violinist and composer Pablo de Sarasate, this is a four-movement work, a concerto in all but designation, based on Scottish folk melodies. The tune “Through The Wood Laddle” informs the first movement (as well as the end of the third and fourth movements); and “Hey Tuttle Tattle” is the pre-dominant tune in the finale (it also formed the basis of Hector Berlioz’s Scottish-themed “Rob Roy Overture” of half a century earlier). Joseph Joachim, a close friend of Brahms, helped supervise the bowing and fingering of the solo parts, but the composer wasn’t happy with Joachim’s playing when the work was premiered in Liverpool on February 23, 1881. A little over two years later, Bruch conducted it again, this time with Sarasate is the soloist, and was far more satisfied. The Scottish Fantasy remains, along with the Violin Concerto No. 1, among the most well known works of Bruch, whose reputation is still somewhat obscured by being in the shadows of both the more traditionalist Brahms and the boundary-pushing Wagner.
Violin: ITZHAK PERLMAN
Israel Philharmonic Orchestra/ZUBIN MEHTA (EMI)
Included:
VIOLIN CONCERTO NO. 2 IN D MINOR, OP. 44
Bruch: SCOTTISH FANTASY (FOR VIOLIN AND ORCHESTRA), OP. 46
One of the longest living composers in history, with a life that began in 1838, just eleven years after Beethoven’s death, and came to an end in 1920, just seven years after Stravinsky’s The Rite Of Spring premiered, Max Bruch was known for being firmly ensconced in the German Romantic tradition, but much more in the mode of Johannes Brahms rather than the flaming radicalism of Richard Wagner. In his time, among other things, he composed three symphonies, plus two full-fledged violin concertos, the first of which (the G Minor) remains a staple of violinists the world over, and whose popularity matches those of other violin concertos by Beethoven, Brahms, and Mendelssohn. But another piece for violin and orchestra by Bruch has also attained extreme popularity: his Scottish Fantasy. Composed in 1880 and dedicated to the legendary French violinist and composer Pablo de Sarasate, this is a four-movement work, a concerto in all but designation, based on Scottish folk melodies. The tune “Through The Wood Laddle” informs the first movement (as well as the end of the third and fourth movements); and “Hey Tuttle Tattle” is the pre-dominant tune in the finale (it also formed the basis of Hector Berlioz’s Scottish-themed “Rob Roy Overture” of half a century earlier). Joseph Joachim, a close friend of Brahms, helped supervise the bowing and fingering of the solo parts, but the composer wasn’t happy with Joachim’s playing when the work was premiered in Liverpool on February 23, 1881. A little over two years later, Bruch conducted it again, this time with Sarasate is the soloist, and was far more satisfied. The Scottish Fantasy remains, along with the Violin Concerto No. 1, among the most well known works of Bruch, whose reputation is still somewhat obscured by being in the shadows of both the more traditionalist Brahms and the boundary-pushing Wagner.
Violin: ITZHAK PERLMAN
Israel Philharmonic Orchestra/ZUBIN MEHTA (EMI)
Included:
VIOLIN CONCERTO NO. 2 IN D MINOR, OP. 44