MAX BRUCH 1838-1920

German Romantic composer and conductor

VIOLIN CONCERTO No1 in G minor

• A concerto is usually in 3 movements (fast-slow-fast)
• Bruch took about 3 years to complete the work taking advice on its final form from other people including Joseph Joachim, a famous Hungarian violinist.
• The romantic concerto was all about the soloist being a star, much like today’s film stars. The composer would write difficult technical passages to display the soloist’s virtuosic skill.
• People say this concerto is the peak of romantic music using clear lyrical melodies. Other composers, such as Wagner, had begun to be deeply influenced by politics, philosophy and psychology.
• Bruch wrote 3 violin concertos but this is the most famous and is one of the most well known concertos for the violin.

Movement I: Prelude: Allegro moderato

• This concerto has 4 short cadenzas written by Bruch (two at the opening and two at the end). This was unusual and broke away from the traditional form of having one cadenza at the end of the movement, which is often improvised.
• Notice the use of unison string writing to create drama.
• Bruch is incredibly skilled at balancing the orchestral sound and not drowning out the soloist. One of ways he does this is with pitch – high violin cutting over low orchestra sounds.
• The end of the movement may seem difficult to spot as it is linked to the second movement by a single note – this was a technique used previously by the German composer Mendelssohn. It may have been to stop the audience clapping and not break the mood.

Movement II: Adagio

• This movement is the real heart of Bruch’s violin concerto.
• It is in 3/8 which means you can count 3 beats to each bar of music.
• Notice how the orchestra give beautiful introductions to the solo violin.
• See if you can hear segments of the violin melody played by other sections of the orchestra.

Movement III: Finale: Allegro energico

• The third movement, or Finale as it is often called, is usually exciting and fun in character. There is a calling motif played in the strings that is then heard in the clarinets and oboes. See if you can spot this motif as it gets used throughout the movement.
• Bruch uses a technique called double stopping – more than one note played on the solo violin at the same time.
• Some of the melodies are evocative of Hungarian folk melodies; people say this may have been a gesture of warmth to the Hungarian violinist Joseph Joachim to whom the concerto is dedicated.
• Towards the end Bruch uses all the romantic dramatic techniques available: the orchestra gets faster, higher and louder and the soloist leaps from low to high.