Masterpieces by Bruch & Brahms with the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra

British Anna Clyne wrote Restless Oceans in 2018 and dedicated it to conductor Marin Alsop. The piece is a tribute to Alsop and her project Taki Alsop Conducting Fellowship, which works to promote female conductors. The title is taken from the poem A Woman Speaks by Audre Lorde, and Clyne has said that she wanted to write a defiant work that embraces the strength of women.

Restless Oceans is written in a late Romantic style with a musical drive that cannot be defended against, like a strong cold drink. Thoughts quickly wander to Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring when you hear the marked rhythms whip like waves, reinforced by the musicians’ stomping feet. The lyrical parts are reinforced by the orchestra’s own voices when Clyne lets them vocalize with the melodies. The restless seas roar and the fickle turbulence of nature become an illustration of the resilience that exists within us.

One of the world’s most played violin concertos

With 82 years on earth and a long, respected career filled with works from his early teens onwards, Max Bruch probably had certain expectations about how his work in the service of music would be remembered. Although we now increasingly often hear his Scottish Fantasy for violin and orchestra and Kol nidrei for cello and orchestra, his First Violin Concerto has overshadowed everything else he composed, both during his lifetime and afterwards. It is still one of the most played – and recorded – in the world. Unfortunately, Bruch had sold the rights to the G minor concerto to his publisher and made nothing from the large number of performances that took place during his lifetime.

You can certainly understand why this one hit became such a wonder! The music has seductive qualities, is romantically soft and lyrical, it absolutely overflows with melodies. The first movement has the liberating title “Prelude”, the adagio is an emotional gem, and the rhythmically fresh finale gives the violinist a final opportunity to show off his virtuosity.

Max Bruch grew up in the shadow of the upbeat Johannes Brahms, who in turn grew up in the shadow of the giant Ludwig van Beethoven. Being named the new Messiah of music by Robert Schumann at a young age created a performance requirement for Brahms that expressed himself in strict self-criticism. When it came to writing a symphony, Beethoven’s shadow and self-criticism became stifling. How could he create something as prestigious as a symphony after the giant’s Ninth had been introduced to the world? It took 20 years of sketching and anguish before he was finally able to share his symphony in C minor. It was worth all the wait. Brahms’s First Symphony is a magnificent symphonic structure, designed with austerity and charge, beauty and finesse.

The battle between good and evil

The “combat symphony” goes from darkness to light. The sentences are characterized by a musical struggle. The first movement is characterized by strong contrasts that represent the battle between evil and good. The second movement is a deeply passionate response to the first movement. The third movement is a gracefully dancing, almost serenade-like movement, a lyrical interlude before the struggle returns in the fourth movement. The fourth movement sums up everything that has preceded it. Suddenly, a hymnic theme is heard, much like the An Die Freude chorus in the Ninth Symphony. “That is what every donkey hears,” the surly Brahms is said to have replied when a listener pointed out the similarity. That his first movement was called “the tenth” cannot have disappointed him.

Text: Clara Mårtensson