Customer Reviews

Max Bruch: His Life and Works

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Whatever may be the matter with the times we live in, we can at least take some comfort in having escaped from a century largely dominated by musical cognoscenti who insisted that music was not music! (The details are lucidly described in Alex Ross's landmark study, "The Rest is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century" -- required summer reading if you don't have a copy already.)

Max Bruch (1838-1920) was not so lucky, but he kept the faith: that music was fundamentally about music. The price he paid for this attitude was that for some time his work has been largely overlooked. It is positively amazing that to this day Christopher Fifield's biography is still "the only full-length study of Bruch."

Many are familiar with Bruch's beautiful Violin Concerto in G minor, often the first major concerto attempted by young violinists. Less well known, but just as musical, is his "Scottish Fantasy" for violin and orchestra. And, of course, the great arrangement of "Kol Nidrei," for cello, and any number of other instruments.

That is just a small part of Bruch's output. He composed three violin concertos, three symphonies, oratorios, chamber music, choral music, etc. Fortunately, much of this has been recorded and is available through Amazon.com.

Fifield's book may seem a little pricey, but it is thorough, well-documented, well-written -- and there are no alternatives. So your decision is easy.

I am the pre-concert speaker for all the symphonic programs of the Boise Philharmonic Association and a guest speaker for the Seattle Symphony. My challange is to bring to life the composers and to create a meaningful context for their works so that the audience can get the most out of each performance. This book contains everything one needs to know about this arresting romantic composer who wrote two of the most beautiful pieces aver written: his Violin Concerto in g minor and his Scottish Fantasy. Bruch's secret? The inspiration of folksong and folk music. The grace, simplicity, the authenticity, and the unalloyed power of the voice of humanity taught him how to write orchestral music that will endure forever. It is all in this excellent book, a perfect companion to his musical masterpieces.

Well and engagingly written, this book gives a lively look into the life of a composer who is now known for only a handful of the nearly 100 works he wrote and who deserves a better fate than that.