This is my first post in the new (Solar) year , in response to the previous post of April Fools ! .The pieces, by the way, are happy and very naturaly colorful ; so that they can be considered my Nowrooz gift ! to the readers. Enjoy listenning to Bruch and merry new year :).
Max Bruch began composing early in his childhood too (he wrote a very impressive Septet for winds and strings at age eleven), He was one of the most respected musicians of His time, and apparently one of the most beloved as well. He wrote a great deal of music. He has more than two hundred registered works: Three Operas, Three symphonies, rarely conducted nine works for violin and orchestra, seven other concertos for other instruments, Great amount of chamber music and few piano works. His masterworks are considered to be Odyssey’s Oratorio, less renowned like others, Scottish Fantasy (an individual work for violin and orchestra). He was mostly known as a choral composer in his time.

As a concerto of Bruch, I introduce his first violin concerto in G minor. Bruch, who lived 84 years, wrote this concerto in the age of 28, holding the admiration and pride he had for it all during his life. He always also expressed disappointment and frustration over the neglect of his later compositions and would ask performers to pay attention to his latter compositions which didn’t have effective result indeed. Sir Donald Francis Tovey who believed “The concerto has gained the success it deserves” has a significant comment about the work:

“Lovers of music today should show more respect to those who dedicated themselves to the creation of beauty. It is not easy to write as beautifully as Bruch, while it is easy for Bruch to write beautifully. This phenomenon, of course, is instinctive for him; the instinct which has been emphasized by many psychologists and critics as being powerful. Furthermore, it is not possible to in Burch’s language, standard lapses which has not been applied by him instinctly. I imply the Rondo of his first concerto as a touchstone. Many violin concertos in the field today exist, being vulgar in comparison. Vividly, this part of his work is a great masterpiece of his, while his rivals are weak.

His first violin concerto is unusual for his time .the first movement is labeled a prelude. It is not that It has a conventional opening but all the first movement which is tremendously free and improvised-like totally plays the role of a prelude for the second movement and directly links to it. The second movement, a beautiful adagio, offers another opening, having a lyrical basis followed by a none, lyrical theme afterwards. The outcome is a peaceful romantic masterwork in which the constant sense of fitness of the composer is seen.

The final, begins with an orchestral opening which is replaced by the soloist who plays an exuberant theme by use of double stops. The whole work has a very violinistic sketch. It seems in some places in the last movement that Bruch keeps the orchestra quite to give the soloist the atmosphere for improvisation.

For specific reasons, related to the concerto itself, me, and dear Lord, I would rather to leave the whole movements, Played by Yehudi Menuhin as the soloist, accompanied by the philarmonia orchestra conducted by Efrem Kurtz and Walter Susskind for download.

First Movement: Adagio moderato

Second Movement: Adagio

Third movement: Finale (Allegro Energico)