Professional Documents
Culture Documents
26
COMPOSED BY
Max Bruch
1838-1920
ORCHESTRATION
2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 2 trumpets, timpani,
strings
Composed 1866. First performance: April 24, 1866, cond. Max Bruch.
Otto von Königslow, violin.
Of the nine major works that Max Bruch wrote for violin, his first Violin
Concerto in G minor, op. 26, is the most famous—something Bruch
resented, even as he valued his friendship with virtuosos like
Ferdinand David and Joseph Joachim. Although he did love the
instrument because it could “sing a melody better than a piano, and
melody is the soul of music,” the fervor of generations of violinists for
this piece has overshadowed his other orchestral and chamber works.
Still, it is hard to argue with the violinists on this one. Bruch’s ability to
balance melodic simplicity and virtuosity, the former rooted in his
fascination with folk music and the latter understood through his
violinist friends, makes for a compelling work.