On a Quest

Donald Macleod charts Bruch’s restless early years of musical soul-searching.

“Only true melody outlasts all changes and shifts of time” – so said this week’s composer, Max Bruch, the creator of what may be the world’s best-loved violin concerto. But Bruch would hate us to think of him as a one hit wonder. He even came to resent the very sound of his first Violin concerto, the only piece by which he’s often remembered. All this week, Donald Macleod colours in Bruch’s life story and reveals the breadth of his output, including some of his lesser-heard music.

Today, we explore Bruch’s musical youth and precocity, hungry for new experiences and living out of a suitcase. This period saw his first dalliances with many forms like chamber music and opera, but despite his own virtuosity, it would be his final fling with solo piano, before he condemned "that dull rattle trap”.

Frühlingslied, Op 7 No 5 (arr. for violin and piano)
Anna Sophie Dauenhauer, violin
Lukas Maria Kuen, piano

Septet, Op Posth (iii. Scherzo)
Berlin Philharmonic Octet

Klavierstücke, Op 12 (excerpt)
Christof Keymer, piano

Piano Trio, Op 5
Nash Ensemble

Die Loreley: Overture
Bamberg Symphony Orchestra
Robert Trevino, conductor

String Quartet No 2 in E major, Op 10 (i – Allegro maestoso)
Mannheim String Quartet

Produced by Amelia Parker for BBC Audio Wales and West