Track #1: Kol Nidrei for Cello and Orchestra, Op. 47 (Adagio after Hebrew melodies)
Artist: Martin Ostertag, SWR Symphony Orchestra
The Composer:
This masterpiece was composed by Max Christian Friedrich Bruch in 1880.
Max Bruch was born in Cologne on January 6, 1838 and died in Berlin on October 2, 1920. Also known as Max Karl August Bruch, he was a German romantic composer and conductor who wrote over 200 works. However, he is generally known as a composer of violin works due to the popularity of his three violin concertos, the first of which has become a staple of the violin repertoire. The Violin Concerto in G Minor overshadowed much of Bruch's other works, much to the composer's annoyance.
Bruch was famous for his large-scale choral works, which have all but been forgotten. At one time, between 1870 and 1900, his reputation outshone that of Brahms with his numerous performances of works such as Odysseus, Frithjof or Das Lied von der Glocke.
Max Bruch studied in Cologne with Ferdinand Hiller and Carl Reinecke. As a student he had extended journeys at home and abroad, followed by longer stays in Mannheim. Here he performed his opera Loreley in 1863 which brought him to the attention of the wider public. This work was based on a libretto by Geibel and orginally dedicated to Mendelssohn.
Brief Timeline:
It has been said that Jacuquelyn Du Pre requested this song be played as she passed away. Although I could not find anything to confirm this statement to be true. The YouTube video below is of Jacquelyn Du Pre playing Bruch's Kol Nidrei.
Max Bruch was born in Cologne on January 6, 1838 and died in Berlin on October 2, 1920. Also known as Max Karl August Bruch, he was a German romantic composer and conductor who wrote over 200 works. However, he is generally known as a composer of violin works due to the popularity of his three violin concertos, the first of which has become a staple of the violin repertoire. The Violin Concerto in G Minor overshadowed much of Bruch's other works, much to the composer's annoyance.
Bruch was famous for his large-scale choral works, which have all but been forgotten. At one time, between 1870 and 1900, his reputation outshone that of Brahms with his numerous performances of works such as Odysseus, Frithjof or Das Lied von der Glocke.
Max Bruch studied in Cologne with Ferdinand Hiller and Carl Reinecke. As a student he had extended journeys at home and abroad, followed by longer stays in Mannheim. Here he performed his opera Loreley in 1863 which brought him to the attention of the wider public. This work was based on a libretto by Geibel and orginally dedicated to Mendelssohn.
Brief Timeline:
- 1865-1867 First official appointment at Kapellmeister, first in Koblenz
- 1867-1870 Appointment in Sondershausen
- 1873-1878 Stayed in Bonn where he dedicated himself to composition and did a short stint as director of the Sternscher Sangverein in Berlin
- 1880 Appointed conductor of the Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra
- 1883 Left England to become a director of the Orchesterverein in Breslau
- 1891 Moved to Berlin and took over master classes in composition (Respighi being one of his pupils)
- 1911 Retired and devoted himself to composition
- 1920 Died in Berlin
Kol Nidrei - The Cello Masterpiece:
The Great Cellist by Margaret Campbell states that this piece was dedicated to a German cellist Robert Hausmann. Opus/Catalogue Number: Op. 47
Year/Date of Composition: 1880
First Publication: 1881
Dedication: Robert Hausmann
Average Duration: 10 Minutes
Piece Style: Romantic
Religious Ties:
To Bruch, this piece was just one of the many arrangements he made of European folk songs while he was in Berlin. During this period, Bruch was introduced to several Jewish melodies through the Lichtenstein family.
Bruch indicated in his letter to cantor and musicologist Eduard Brinbaum on December 4, 1889 that he did not consider his Kol Nidrei to be a Jewish composition - just an artistic arrangement of a folk tune. The translation of the excerpts from the letters below were provided by Richard Schoeller.
"...I became acquainted with Kol Nidre and a few other songs (among others, 'Arabian Camel') in Berlin through the Lichtenstein family, who befriended me. Even though I am a Protestant, as an artist I deeply felt the outstanding beauty of these melodies and therefore I gladly spread them through my arrangement.
...As a young man I had already ...studied folksongs of all nations with great enthusiasm, because the folksong is the source of all true melodics---a wellspring, at which one must repeatedly renew and refresh oneself---if one doesn't admit to the absurd belief of a certain party: "The melody is an outdated view." So lay the study of Jewish ethnic music on my path."
Kol Nidrei - The Jewish Chant:
The video below is the original Kol Nidrie prayer sung to Bruch's Kol Nidrei arranged for a symphony orchestra with a cello solo. Kol Nidrei is a Jewish Chant traditionally sung on the Day of Atonement called Yom Kippur. The song is not a prayer, but an annulment of vows. Worshippers proclaim that all personal vows and oaths made between themselves and God during the year that have not been fulfulled should be considered null and void.
The recitation of Kol Nidrei begins before sundown on Yom Kippur and is sung three times in the synagogue by the canton: first in a whisper, then in clearer tones, and finally in a loud voice. This symbolizes the growing confidence of the worshipper who comes closer to the throne of God. The chant is usually altered by each cantor, but is bascially the same everywhere. Although the exact origins are unknown, the song is thought to stem from sixteenth-century Germany. However, there is much debate over this.
Thoughts:
Will post after a few days of listening to this piece.
Sources:
Websites:
Websites:
- http://www.naxos.com/person/Max_Bruch/27106.htm
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kol_Nidre
YouTube Videos:
- The meaning of Kol Nidre: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hW-cSrxQ1IU&feature=player_embedded
