Ignaz Brüll - Symphony in E-minor, Op.31 (1880)

Ignaz Brüll

(7 November 1846 – 17 September 1907)

was a Moravian-born pianist and composer who lived and worked in Vienna.

His operatic compositions included Das Goldene Kreuz (The Golden Cross), which became a repertory work for several decades after its first production in 1875, but eventually fell into neglect after being banned by the Nazis because of Brüll's Jewish origins. He also wrote a small corpus of finely crafted works for the concert hall and recitals. Brüll's compositional style was lively but unabashedly conservative, in the vein of Mendelssohn and Schumann.

 Symphony in E-minor, Op.31 (1880)    

Mov.I: Molto moderato 00:00
Mov.II: Allegretto molto moderato 08:54
Mov.III: Scherzo: Allegro assai 13:55
Mov.IV: Molto moderato - Allegro assai 18:51

Orchestra: Belorussian State Symphony Orchestra
Conductor: Marius Stravinsky

Brüll was also highly regarded as a sensitive concert pianist. Johannes Brahms regularly wanted Brüll to be his partner in private performances of four-hand piano duet arrangements of his latest works. Indeed, Brüll was a prominent member of Brahms's circle of musical and literary friends, many of whom he and his wife frequently entertained.

In recent years, Brüll's concert music has been revived on CD, and well received recordings are available of his piano concertos, among other non-vocal works.

In 1872 he was appointed professor at the Horak Institute in Vienna

The Brahms circle and later years

In 1882, Brüll married Marie Schosberg, a banker's daughter who became a popular hostess to Viennese musical and artistic society.^[6] Brüll now shifted his attention towards composition, reduced the number of concert engagements, and permanently gave up touring. He also found himself playing host to Johannes Brahms's circle of friends, including the powerful music critic Eduard Hanslick, the musically minded eminent surgeon Theodor Billroth, and composers such as Carl Goldmark, Robert Fuchs, and even Gustav Mahler.^{[n 4][6]} When Brahms wanted to audition his latest orchestral compositions, as was his habit, to a select group of connoisseurs in four-handed versions for two pianos, Brüll regularly played alongside the senior composer.^[6] From 1890, Brüll's new holiday home (the Berghof) in Unterach am Attersee also became a social venue.^[6]

Unlike Brahms, Brüll was a man of the theatre, and he went on to compose at least seven more operas, which however did not approach the same level of popular success as Das Goldene Kreuz.^{[n 5][14]} His final opera, the two-act comedy Der Hussar, was well received when it was staged in Vienna in 1898.^[4][14][16]

Brüll was honorary British consul at Budapest, and was appointed an Honorary Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George in the 1902 Coronation Honours list on 26 June 1902.^[17][18]

Brüll's other operas include: Der Landfriede (Vienna, 1877), Bianca (Dresden, 1879), Königin Mariette (Munich, 1883), Das Steinerne Herz (Prague, 1888), Gringoire (one act, Munich, 1892), Schach dem König (Munich, 1893). For the ballet, he wrote the orchestral dance-suite, Ein Märchen aus der Champagne (1896).

Orchestral concert works by Brüll include the Im Walde and Macbeth overtures, a symphony and three serenades, a violin concerto, and the two piano concertos, as well as three other piano concertante pieces. His chamber and instrumental music includes a suite and 3 sonatas for piano and violin, a trio, a cello sonata, and a sonata for two pianos and various other piano pieces. He also wrote songs and part-songs.^[4]