Max Bruch

<p>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.<br /> <br />CHRISTOPHER FIFIELD is foremost a conductor but also a writer on music history (<em>Grove DNB Viking Opera Guide Oxford Companion to Music</em>) 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.<br /> </p>