If I Could Choose Only One Work By...Bruch
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- Опубліковано 7 жов 2023
- It Would Have To Be...The Scottish Fantasy
Even better than the famous First Violin Concerto, the Scottish Fantasy allows Bruch the rare opportunity to set his imagination free on a fabulous collection of tunes, gorgeously orchestrated.
The List So Far:
1. Ravel: Ma Mère l’Oye (Mother Goose Ballet)
2. Bruckner: Symphony No. 7
3. Schubert: String Quintet in C major
4. Shostakovich: Symphony No. 4
5. Mahler: Symphony No. 2 “Resurrection”
6. Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker
7. Debussy: Preludes for Piano (Books 1 & 2)
8: Handel: Saul
9. Mozart: Le Nozze di Figaro
10. Brahms: String Sextet No. 2 in G major
11. Vaughan Williams: Job
12. Bach: Goldberg Variations
13. R. Strauss: Four Last Songs
14. Berlioz: The Damnation of Faust
15. Haydn: “Paris” Symphonies (Nos. 82-87)
16. Wagner: Der Ring des Nibelungen
17. Beethoven: String Quartet No. 14 in C-sharp minor
18. Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto in E minor
19. Chopin: Preludes
20. Verdi: Rigoletto
21. Roussel: Symphony No. 2
22. Copland: Appalachian Spring (complete original ballet)
23. Grieg: Peer Gynt Suites Nos. 1 and 2
24. Bartók: Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion
25. Prokofiev: Piano Concerto No. 2
26. Rimsky-Korsakov: Opera Suites (Scottish National Orchestra/Järvi) Chandos
27. Schoenberg: Pierrot Lunaire
28. Smetana: Ma Vlást
29. Falla: Nights in the Gardens of Spain
30. Bizet: Carmen
31. Elgar: In the South
32. Sullivan: The Mikado
33. Dvořák: Symphony No. 8; Cello Concerto (Piatigorsky/Munch/Boston Symphony) RCA
34. Liszt: Hungarian Rhapsodies
35. Monteverdi: Orfeo
36. Scarlatti: Sonatas
37. Schumann: Fantasie in C, Op. 17
38. Berg: Wozzeck
39. Hermann: Psycho (film score)
40. Rachmaninoff: Rhapsody on the Theme of Paganini
41. Purcell: Dido and Aeneas
42. Holst: Suites for Military Band
43. Stravinsky: Oedipus Rex
44. Respighi: Three Botticelli Pictures
45. Sibelius: Symphony No. 5; Pohjola’s Daughter (Bernstein, New York Philharmonic) Sony
46. Britten: The Turn of the Screw
47. Borodin: String Quartet No. 2
48. Janácek: The Cunning Little Vixen
49. Korngold: Violin Concerto
50. Tallis: Spem in Alium
51. Nielsen: Symphony No. 5
52. Barber: Knoxville: Summer of 1915
53. Hindemith: Symphony in E-flat
54. Mussorgsky: Boris Godunov
55. Franck: Violin Sonata
56. Rossini: La gazza ladra (The Thieving Magpie)
57. Saint-Saëns: Piano Concerto No. 5 “Egyptian”
58. Weill: The Seven Deadly Sins
59. Pergolesi: Stabat Mater
60. Albeniz: Iberia
61. Bernstein: Mass
62. Schreker: Chamber Symphony
63. Walton: Variations on a Theme by Hindemith
64. Dukas: Piano Sonata
65. Gershwin: Porgy and Bess
66. Tippett: Piano Concerto
67. Poulenc: Songs (ATMA, 5 discs)
68. Szymanowski: Violin Concerto No. 1
69. Gluck: Alceste
70. Vivaldi: L’estro armonico, Op. 3
71. Puccini: La Bohème
72. Hanson: Symphony No. 2 “Romantic”
73. Alkan: 12 Etudes in All the Minor Keys, Op. 39
74. Dutilleux: Métaboles
75. Glinka: Kamarinskaya
76. Crumb: Makrokosmos III (Music for a Summer Evening)
77. Biber: Sonata violino solo representativa
78. Josquin: Missa Ave maris stella
79. Arnold: Symphony No. 5
80. Fauré: Piano Quartets (Trio Wanderer) Harmonia Mundi
81. Hovhaness: Fra Angelico
82. Martinu: Symphony No. 6 “Fantaisies symphoniques”
83. Grainger: Lincolnshire Posy
84. Corelli: 12 Concerti grossi, Op. 6
85. Bellini: Norma
86. Ives: “Concord” Sonata
87. John Williams: Jaws (film score)
88. Honegger: Le Roi David (King David)
89. Kodály: “Peacock” Variations
90. Milhaud: Une Vie Heureuse (10 CD Set, Erato)
91. Scriabin: Piano Sonatas (Hamelin/Hyperion)
92. Casella: Concerto for Orchestra
93. Rautavaara: Cantus Arcticus
94. Chabrier: España
95. Reich: Music for 18 Musicians
96. Waxman: Sunset Boulevard (film score)
97. Rameau: Hippolyte et Aricie
98. Suk: A Summer Tale
99. Delius: A Song of the High Hills
100. Telemann: Tafelmusik
101. Stenhammar: Serenade
102. Orff: Trionfi (Carmina Burana, Catulli Carmina, Trionfo di Afrodite)
103. Bax: Symphony No. 2
104. Turina: Canto a Sevilla
105. Glass: Koyaanisqatsi
106. Zelenka: Missa Dei Filii
107. Martin: Petite sinfonie concertante
108. Braga Santos: Symphony No. 3
109: Messiaen: Des canyons aux étoiles
110. Harris: Symphony No. 3
111. Magnard: Symphony No. 4
112. Bloch: Concerto symphonique for Piano and Orchestra
113. Harrison: Solstice
114. Zemlinsky: Lyric Symphony
I don't know why Bruch does not get more love? His work is so easy to listen to. I love his symphonies too.
May not his best or the most representative but I really like the Double Concerto for Viola & Clarinet Op.88!
Absolutely agree with your choice. His later works - The Concerto for Viola & Clarinet and his Octet are quite lovely.
An interesting tidbit I learned is that Max Bruch never made money from his first concerto. I believe because he forgot to file a copyright claim at his publishers. The things you learn while listening to the radio. . . And the Scottish Fantasy is a beautiful work; I particularly like the last movement where I learned that both he and Berlioz used the same Scottish folk tune: Bruch for the Fantasy, and Berlioz in the Rob Roy overture.
While I haven't heard everything Bruch wrote, I'm with you on the "Scottish Fantasy". The other works I've heard--especially the first VC--- are syrupy beyond my tolerance.
I totally agree with you. The version by Heifetz has been one of my favorite recordings for over 50 years. Thank you for your wonderful talks. I just discovered them. I am so glad I did. I don’t always agree with you. For example, I adore Parsifal. But your intelligence and incredible knowledge have significantly increased my understanding of all sorts of music. Thank you!
Heifetz is wonderful but I wish he hadn't made those cuts.
Gorgeous selection! 4:45
Yes Dave, the Scottish Fantasy is a great choice, though the First Violin Concerto is the obvious choice for runner up (and Cancrizans is surely not going to deprive us of a runner up, is he?). Bruch is a much underrated composer, even when allowing for the undoubted truth that he was first and foremost a fervent, somewhat anachronistic traditionalist. He did however write finely crafted and richly endowed music, way beyond the two great works already mentioned. I'm thinking primarily of the three symphonies, which seem to always be damned in most critical quarters. Of the three I think the First is the finest - it is expertly constructed along typical sonata form lines, and the melodic content is distinct and memorable. The slow movement came as a shock when I first heard it, on account of its sustained, melting lyricism - its elegiac nature surely speaks of a deep personal pain. I'm also fond of the short, solo string concertante works (Kol Nidrei, Romances, In Memoriam, etc) - they're very touching indeed.
You mention Raff, David; a similar video for him would be nice I think.
Not a comment on Bruch, but just a suggestion that you have an episode to discuss composer Paul Moravec. I heard his Time Gallery on the radio last night when I picked up my daughter after work, and even she liked it so much that we spent an extra 15 minutes in the car to hear the ending. Bonus: it uses a tam-tam!
Great Pick! I'm a fan of the recent(-ish) version by Joshua Bell and Academy of St Martin in the Fields
i like midori and zubin mehta by farrrr
There are some spiffing shorter choral works that show Bruch at his best, though - Leonidas or Schön Ellen, to name two. Although I admit to having a real soft spot (and the requisite patience) for huge things of such as Achilleus and Arminius.
Thanks for the great video as always! Two interelated questions: Is great music only great for the sake of formal or harmonic innovation at the time of its composition? In other words, can't a composer keep working in the same tradition and keep producing great works without simply introducing new revolutionary ideas?
The second question is how's Bruch's first symphony evaluated? Everyone says it's such an insignificant work because it follows the classical form but I still remember that as an amateur listener, the first time I heard the scherzo, I found immense aesthetic value and immeasurable beauty like anytime I heard any other great piece even though I knew it was following a simple ternary form; despite that knowledge, I couldn't say to my brain not to enjoy its beauty like I would any well-written scherzo from Mendelssohn or Beethoven. Aren't we listening to music to enjoy its beautiful qualities first and foremost?
Great music is whatever does it best, irrespective of chronology, trends or fads. As for Bruch's First Symphony, who cares if it's considered "great" or not if you like it? Just enjoy.
You should shout your opinion about his symphonies from the rooftops. That’s the way a reevaluation (which I think Bruch deserves) begins. I myself would like to know if there are particularly good recordings of them to explore. (I will have to check classicstoday for that.)
The first symphony is a real cracker. I agree about the scherzo, it's wonderful and catchy, real theme music
Great choise. Still, I think some of Bruchs choral works are underrated. Listen to his op 35 for chorus, orchestra and organ. The sanctus is wonderful.
Can you make some videos on Samuil Feinberg? His works do not get the exposure it deserves.
Great choice. It has more pizzaz than the violin concerto, which I also enjoy.