Max Bruch - Violin Concerto No. 2, Op. 44 (1878)

Max 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, the first of which has become a staple[important] of the violin repertory.

Violin Concerto No. 2, Op. 44 (1878)

Violin Concerto No. 2 in D minor, Op. 44 was composed during 1877, following a failed attempt in 1874,^[1][2] and dedicated to the great Spanish violinist, Pablo de Sarasate.^[3] It was premiered in London by Sarasate, conducted by Bruch, on 4 November 1877.^[3][1]

Structure

The concerto has three movements:

1. Adagio ma non troppo (D minor, ending in D major)
2. Recitativo: Allegro moderato (B♭ major) (attacca)
3. Finale: Allegro molto (B♭ major – D major)

A typical performance runs 28 to 30 minutes.

Description by James Reel [-]
While violinist Joseph Joachim had a hand in fine-tuning Max Bruch's first violin concerto, Pablo Sarasate was the direct inspiration for Bruch's second concerto. This is unfortunate, for Bruch provided the Spanish soloist a virtuoso vehicle lacking the balance and direct ｅxpression that made his first concerto so popular.

This concerto begins with a long Adagio non troppo, which Johannes Brahms found altogether troppo: "Normal people cannot endure it," he wrote. (But Brahms certainly liked the main theme of the first movement as he used it himself later in the 3rd movement of the 3rd Symphony 1883 (according to uploader)) The movement is in sonata form, the violin singing out a first theme tailored specifically to what Bruch called Sarasate's "soulful" style. This is the concerto's strongest movement, with highly expressive writing for the soloist over unobtrusive, but effective, ominous support from the orchestra. Despite a few high-tension passages replete with double stops, this movement does not require fireworks from the soloist.

The brief second movement, described as a recitative, picks up the pace somewhat with a sequence of declamatory passages for the violin, cheered on by orchestral outbursts, that link the outer movements thematically. The movement also functions somewhat as a big, accompanied cadenza.
The finale, an Allegro molto in loose sonata form, brings on the pyrotechnics. The soloist uses the rather Lalo-like themes as little more than an excuse for virtuosic display, with the orchestra almost fully subservient to the violin's survey of bowing effects and showy double-stop writing. The music does ease off from time to time, but these more relaxed episodes still require ardent playing from the soloist, and the rip-roaring final measures are clearly designed to bring an audience to its feet.