Classical and countries, part 1: bruch - scottish fantasy

Composed in 1880, Max Bruch’s Scottish Fantasy (or his Third Violin Concerto) is a homage to Scotland and its fantastical highlands. Comically, Bruch would visit Scotland for the first time a year after he wrote the piece. Bruch also dedicated the piece to Pablo de Sarasate, a prominent violinist and composer of the time, although he composed it primarily with renowned violinist Joseph Joachim. After the premiere of the piece by Joachim in 1881, however, Bruch remarked that his piece was played extremely poorly and that Joachim had “ruined” it. Two years later, though, Bruch conducted a performance of this concerto with Sarasate himself in St. James Hall.

In the four different movements, Bruch uses a multitude of old Scottish folk songs for his themes, including: “Through The Wood, Laddie”, “The Dusty Miller”, and “I’m A’ Doun for Lack O’ Johnnie”. Bruch once said that the violin “can sing a melody better than a piano, and melody is the soul of music”, and the way he connects the soloistic loneliness of the start of the first movement with the spirited dance of the last shows he can ,indeed, make the violin sing. He also gives the harp an important role in duetting with the solo violin due to the harp’s importance in traditional Scottish music. This blend of colors from traditional Scottish folk songs with Bruch’s compositional genius gives way for a piece so fluid and emotional calling it a story or journey would be no understatement.

For a violinist, the piece can be very challenging. Although great recordings might make it sound easy, chords (multiple notes played at the same time on the violin) are scattered abundantly throughout the piece, and can be a nightmare to get in tune. Even the slow third movement, arguably the easiest in terms of technical difficulty, can be tough to get perfectly in tune. One wrong note can break the flow of the piece, as, in many places, the violin is alone and exposed. On the other hand, the fourth movement, marked Allegro Guerriero (fiery and warlike) starts off with difficult chords and arpeggios, and doesn’t relent until the very end of the piece. Unlike works from Paginini, which draw their appeal from the difficulty of the piece alone, this movement requires extreme precision while retaining a clear and confident tone. Mastering the piece, however, can make it sound deceptively easy.

This is the first part in my “Classical and Countries” series. Next time, I’ll be talking about Dvorak’s famous “New World” Symphony. Until then, I’ll link some renditions of Scottish Fantasy I like in addition to some of Bruch's inspirations, but I’d advise you to always find recordings that you like.