Max Bruch Violin Concerto No 1 Op 26 in G minor-Financial Reward

Much has been said that most artist die a pauper only to have their works attain popular acclaim after their passing. There is a slight twist to this fairly popular violin concerto by German romantic composer Max Bruch or rather that his violin concerto which was his most famous work of the about 100 compositions that he wrote during his lifetime of about 82 years. He actually saw this work attain popularity during his lifetime but he was not to be sufficiently rewarded for it as he sold the rights to this concerto for a one time payment as it was not well received during its premiere as he could have wanted to cash in on whatever he could lay his hands on financially. Having a lawyer for a father Max Bruch must have appreciated the consequences of his outright sale of his work though his father did not practiced law for a significant period and spent a large part of his career as a police chief.

Another significant aspect is that he reached a career fork very early in his life of having to choose between painting or music as he was talented in both. It seems that he made a right decision in choosing music. The other significant part is his love for violin although he started his music career on the piano. He once remarked that the violin can sing a melody better than a piano and that melody is the soul of music. He composed a total of 3 violin concertos but it was his first violin that sealed his fame as a composer.

On his ancestral roots, there has been some speculation that he has a Jewish bloodline instead of Germanic bloodline for which he was very proud of. This was partly due to one of his composition Kol Nidrei that has some hebrew over tones. He went to great length to refute this and he was also a Bismarck sympathizer in terms of his plan to achieve unification of Rhineland.

Although the concerto was set against a minor key it was more melodious than melancholic in nature. In fact, some would say that there seems to be some parallel between this violin concerto and that of Mendelssohn's violin concerto which is also keyed in minor. This could have it roots as Mendelssohn was not only his contemporary but a good friend of his. Being a flag bearer for romantic era style of music, he vehemently resisted the contemporary 'Neudeutsche' of his time which promoted a darker and more complex style as opposed to his more traditional and folk style.

I have the following recording of this concerto:

1.Two of which is by violinist Yehudi Menuhin. One of which is with the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Adrian Boult and the second accompanied by London Philharmonia Orchestra under the baton of Walter Susskind.

2. Soloist Ruggiero Ricci with London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Piero Gamba

3. Kyung-Wha Chung with Klaus Tennsedt conducting London Philharmonic Orchestra

4.Janine Jansen with Riccardo Chailly conducting Gewandhausorchester.

5. David Oistrakh with London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Lovro von Matacic

6.Shlomo Mintz with Chicago Symphony Orchestra conducted by Claudio Abbado.

Of these recordings, my favorite is the version by David Oistrakh as his interpretation seems to be the most melodic of them all in my opinion. Janine Jansen plays it in a very emotive manner while both recordings of Yehudi Menuhin is most probably technically the most faultless.

Peter Lye aka lkypeter.blogspot.com

Safe Harbor
Please note that information contained in these pages are of a personal nature and does not necessarily reflect that of any companies, organizations or individuals. In addition, some of these opinions are of a forward looking nature. Lastly the facts and opinions contained in these pages might not have been verified for correctness, so please use with caution. Happy Reading. Copyrights of all contents in this blog belongs to Peter Lye unless stated otherwise.