 | This article needs additional citations for verification .(May 2015) |
| Kol Nidrei | |
|---|---|
| by Max Bruch | |
| Other name | All Vows |
| Opus | 47 |
| Year | 1880 |
| Period | Classical music |
| Genre | Romantic music |
| Based on | |
| Published | 1881 |
| Scoring | Cello and Orchestra |
| Recording | |
Performed by the chamber orchestra of the United States Marine Band, 2013 | |
Kol Nidrei, Op. 47 (also known as All Vows, the meaning of the phrase in Aramaic), is a composition for cello and orchestra written by Max Bruch.
Bruch completed the work in Liverpool, England, in 1880, [1] [2] : 100 and published it in Berlin in 1881. [3] [4] It was dedicated to and premiered by Robert Hausmann, who later co-premiered Johannes Brahms's Double Concerto with Joseph Joachim, the dedicatee of Bruch's most famous work, the Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor. Hausmann had requested such a cello work from Bruch. [2] : 170
The use of Jewish folk music as an inspiration has been seen as a reflection of the extent of Jewish assimilation into Germany by some academics. [1] Many also mistakenly believed that Bruch was Jewish as a result of this piece, despite the composer actively working to correct that mistake in his own lifetime. [5]
After his Violin Concerto No. 1, the Kol Nidrei is Bruch's second most frequently performed piece. [6]
It is styled as an Adagio on 2 Hebrew Melodies for Cello and Orchestra with Harp and consists of a series of variations on two main themes of Jewish origin. [4] The first theme, which also lends the piece its title, comes from the Kol Nidre declaration, which is recited during the evening service on Yom Kippur. In Bruch's setting of the melody, the cello imitates the rhapsodic voice of the cantor who chants the liturgy in the synagogue. The second subject of the piece is quoted from the middle section of Isaac Nathan's arrangement of "O Weep for Those that Wept on Babel's Stream", a lyric which was penned by Lord Byron in his collection Hebrew Melodies (which also includes the famous poem "She Walks in Beauty"). [6] [7] [8]
Bruch was a Protestant [2] : 109 and first became acquainted with the Kol Nidrei melody when his teacher Ferdinand Hiller introduced him to the Lichtenstein family, the head of which served as the cantor-in-chief of Berlin. Cantor Abraham Jacob Lichtenstein was known to have cordial relations with many Christian musicians and supported Bruch's interest in Jewish folk music. While some commentators, including Abraham Zevi Idelsohn, have criticized the lack of Jewish sentiment in Bruch's concert-hall Kol Nidrei, Bruch never presumed to write Jewish music. He only wished to incorporate Jewish inspirations into his own compositions. [9]
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 (taken from a letter written by Bruch)... In his presentation, the melody entirely lost its original character. Bruch displayed a fine art, masterly technique and fantasy, but not Jewish sentiments. It is not a Jewish Kol-Nidre which Bruch composed. (Idelsohn, from Jewish Music in its Historic Development, 1929) [9]
The work is scored for solo cello, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, timpani, harp and strings. [3]
Max Bruch was a German Romantic composer, violinist, teacher, and conductor who wrote more than 200 works, including three violin concertos, the first of which has become a prominent staple of the standard violin repertoire.
Kol Nidre is a Hebrew and Aramaic declaration which is recited in the synagogue before the beginning of the evening service on the night of Yom Kippur. Strictly speaking, it is not a prayer, even though it is commonly spoken of as if it were a prayer. This declaration and its ceremonial accompaniment have been charged with emotional undertones since the medieval period, creating a dramatic introduction to Yom Kippur on what is often dubbed "Kol Nidrei night", with the entire Yom Kippur evening service popularly called Kol Nidrei.
Natalie Clein is a British classical cellist. Her mother is a professional violinist. Her sister is the actress Louisa Clein.
Ferdinand (von) Hiller was a German composer, conductor, pianist, writer and music director.
Friedrich Gernsheim was a German composer, conductor and pianist.
The Scottish Fantasy in E-flat major, Op. 46, is a composition for violin and orchestra by Max Bruch. Completed in 1880, it was dedicated to the virtuoso violinist Pablo de Sarasate.
Max Bruch's Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor, Op. 26, is one of the most popular violin concertos in solo violin repertoire and, along with the Scottish Fantasy, the composer's most famous work. It has been recorded often.
Kol Nidre is a prayer of Judaism.
Alisa Weilerstein is an American classical cellist. She was named a 2011 MacArthur Fellow.
Jewish music is the music and melodies of the Jewish people. There exist both traditions of religious music, as sung at the synagogue and domestic prayers, and of secular music, such as klezmer. While some elements of Jewish music may originate in biblical times, differences of rhythm and sound can be found among later Jewish communities that have been musically influenced by location. In the nineteenth century, religious reform led to composition of ecclesiastic music in the styles of classical music. At the same period, academics began to treat the topic in the light of ethnomusicology. Edwin Seroussi has written, "What is known as 'Jewish music' today is thus the result of complex historical processes". A number of modern Jewish composers have been aware of and influenced by the different traditions of Jewish music.
Max Bruch's Violin Concerto No. 2 in D minor, Op. 44 was composed during 1877, following a failed attempt in 1874, and dedicated to the great Spanish violinist, Pablo de Sarasate. It was premiered in London by Sarasate, conducted by Bruch, on 4 November 1877.
Max Bruch's Violin Concerto No. 3 in D minor, Op. 58, was composed in 1891 and dedicated to the violinist/composer Joseph Joachim, who had persuaded him to expand a single movement concert piece into a full violin concerto.
The Concerto for Clarinet, Viola, and Orchestra in E minor, Op. 88, is a composition by Max Bruch which was composed in 1911. It premiered on 5 March 1912 in Wilhelmshaven by the piece's dedicatees, violist Willy Hess and the composer's son and clarinet soloist, Max Felix Bruch. The score however was published 23 years after the composer's death, finally being released in 1942.
Rose Sutro and Ottilie Sutro were American sisters who were notable as one of the first recognised duo-piano teams. It has been claimed they were the first such team, but Willi and Louis Thern preceded them by almost 30 years. They were also noted confidence tricksters, repeatedly swindling the German composer Max Bruch by taking advantage of his trusting nature - first, by making and publishing unauthorized changes to his Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra in A-flat minor, and second, stealing and absconding with the autograph copy of his Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor, later selling it in 1949.
Robert Hausmann was a notable 19th-century German cellist who premiered important works by Johannes Brahms and Max Bruch. He was the cellist for the Joachim Quartet and taught at the Berlin Königliche Hochschule für Müsik.
Eda Rothstein Rapoport was a Jewish-American composer and pianist born in the Russian Empire.
Sara Gurowitsch was a Russian Empire-born American cellist and composer.
The String Octet in B♭ major, Op. posth., was composed by Max Bruch for four violins, two violas, cello and double bass. Completed in 1920, the year of his death, it is his last work and would not be published until 1996. The work is also known under the name Concerto for String Orchestra (Octet).
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of January 2024 (link)| Operas |
|
|---|---|
| Concertante | |
| Chamber music | |
| Vocal music | |
| Related articles | |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
