Max Bruch – His life and works

Max Bruch (1838-1920), the German composer best known for his Violin Concerto in G minor, was in his day, a famous conductor and teacher as well as a prolific composer; yet he has been sadly neglected, perhaps in comparison to his contemporary Brahms. In this book – the only full-length study of Bruch – the author provides a richly documented account of Bruch’s career as music director and composer, including a spell with the Liverpool Philharmonic Society from 1880-1883, and as a teacher at the Royal Academy of Arts in Berlin from 1892 until his retirement in 1911, where Vaughan Williams was one his pupils; he paints a picture of a proud and sensitive man, whose talents were perhaps left behind at a time of rapid musical development. The book also offers a musical analysis of his one hundred published works, including three operas. CHRISTOPHER FIFIELD is foremost a conductor, but also a writer on music history (Grove, DNB, Viking Opera Guide, Oxford Companion to Music), the author of a biography of Hans Richter, the editor of the letters and diaries of Kathleen Ferrier, and a recent history of the music agents Ibbs and Tillett.