A few months ago -- I believe it was about the time I reviewed Paganinni’s Violin Concerto No. 1 (HERE) -- I researched various “Top Ten” inventories of violin concertos,” and of course, Max Bruch’s Violin Concerto No. 1 was on every list. In some cases his concerto topped the countdowns as the “greatest” violin concerto of all time. That got me to thinking -- do I know any other works by Max Bruch? Sadly, I couldn’t name one. I wondered if he had written a piano concerto as admired as his violin concerto, so I checked this inventory of his works -- HERE -- and lo and behold, there was no piano concerto. However, there was one concerto for two pianos and orchestra (in A Flat minor), so I decided to listen to that this week. As you can see by my rating below, I loved it. The concerto, which runs only about 28 minutes, is comprised of four movements: I. Andante sostenuto II. Andante con moto – Allegro molto vivace III. Adagio ma non troppo IV. Andante – Allegro In a word, the concerto is lovely. The first movement -- lovely. The second movement -- lovely. The third movement -- very lovely. The fourth movement -- well, you get the picture. It’s lovely. The first movement of Bruch’s concerto opens with powerful notes played in octaves on both pianos -- similar to (but pre-dating) Rachmanioff’s Prelude in C Sharp Minor -- as if tolling the news of some tragedy (the piece is in A flat minor, after all). Soon the full orchestra joins in to accentuate the drama, until thirteen measures into the piece when one of the two pianos offers a tranquil lament with a simple melody of single notes. Four measures later the second piano joins with a parallel melody, and only slowly is depth added with additional harmonies. Soon the orchestra underscores both pianos, and the piece builds to a somber dirge. The powerful opening notes of the concerto are repeated often and effectively by the strings and brass as the pianos underscore the elegiac chords, and soon the movement resolves itself with diminished volume but with profuse sorrow. The majority of the second movement is spirited and at times joyous, marked “Allegro molto Vivace,” but only after a slower and serene segue provided by the strings and woodwinds opens the work. Although there are a few passages with more of a worried tone, the timbre of the movement is in clear contrast to that of the first. The slower third movement, marked “expressivo” or “molto expressivo” (very expressive) throughout, is lush and emotional. The piece is beautiful. In the final movement, the orchestra echoes the pianos’ powerful chords from the concerto’s opening measures. The tone here is more promising and grand. The final passages are marked “pesante,” meaning “heavy and ponderous,” but to me, the conclusion sounds more optimistic and triumphant. I don’t know the “how and why” Bruch structured his concerto like this, but the dirge-like opening, the spirited shift, the return to the “expressivo” tenor, and the triumphant finale called to mind for me a poem by Emily Dickinson, “If anybody’s friend be dead.” More on that -- coming soon. Stay tuned!
To me, the tone of the fourth movement called to mind the first four lines from a different poem by Dickinson:
This World is not Conclusion. A Species stands beyond – Invisible, as Music – But positive, as Sound – Although the main focus of "If anybody's friend be dead" and Bruch's concerto deal with grief and loss, the final movement of Bruch's work suggests the optimism of the four additional lines by Dickinson -- that "this World is not Conclusion," and a lost friend surely "stands beyond" in some better place -- as "positive as Sound."
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A New Hope:As the header above says, each week I will listen to a piece of classical music that I've never heard before, and then I will report out what I thought about it. Archives
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