Max Bruch

Max Bruch

Max Christian Friedrich Bruch (6 January 1838–2 October 1920) also known as Max Karl August Bruch, was a German Romantic composer and conductor who wrote over 200 works, including three violin concertos, one of which is a staple of the violin repertoire.

Bruch was born in Cologne. He had a long career as a teacher, conductor and composer, moving among musical posts in Germany: Mannheim (1862-1864), Koblenz (1865-1867), Sondershausen, (1867-1870) Berlin (1870-1872), Bonn, where he spent 1873 -1878 working privately. At the height of his reputation he spent three seasons as conductor of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Society (1880-83). He taught composition at the Berlin Hochschule für Musik (the Berlin Conservatoire) from 1890 until his retirement in 1910.

His conservatively structured works, in the German romantic musical tradition, placed him in the camp of Romantic classicism exemplified by Johannes Brahms, rather than the opposing "New Music" of Franz Liszt and Richard Wagner. In his time, he was known primarily as a choral composer.

His Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor, Op. 26 (1868) is one of the most popular Romantic violin concertos. It uses several techniques from Felix Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto in E minor.

Max Bruch Media

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  Max Bruch, c. 1920

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  Bruch's grave, at the Old St. Matthäus churchyard at Berlin-Schöneberg

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  Sculpture of Bruch on the restored tower of the Cologne City Hall

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  Memorial for Bruch and Maria Zanders in the pedestrian zone of Bergisch Gladbach city centre

References

• Fifield, Christopher (1988). Max Bruch His Life and Works. George Braziller. ISBN 0-8076-1204-9.

Other websites

• Classical Net, Basic Repertoire: Max Bruch
• Joseph Stevenson, "Max Bruch"
• "Max Bruch, Kol Nidrei"
• http://www.richmondsymphony.com/concerts/note_04_21-24_06.htm Archived 2007-03-11 at the Wayback Machine
• Site dedicated to Max Bruch Archived 2008-07-06 at the Wayback Machine (includes a list of works by opus number)