Die Symphonie zwischen Schumann und Brahms Matthias Falke

Musicologica Berolinensia Bd. 14
Studien zu Max Bruch und Robert Volkmann

The idea of the symphony in the 19th century, still characterised by Carl Dahlhaus' rough conceptual grid of the 1980s, has long been in need of a fundamental revision, even in the opinion of scholars, which would ensure a fairer appreciation of the numerous symphonic works of the middle of the century. For many composers, this appreciation is still lacking. Matthias Falke's book finally gives the composers Max Bruch and Robert Volkmann, both of whom are among the most important and most frequently performed composers of the Romantic era, the scholarly attention they deserve.

Max Bruch (1838-1920), known today almost exclusively for his First Violin Concerto, also contributed three masterfully crafted and melodically brilliant works to the symphonic genre. His First Symphony of 1870 was one of the most frequently performed of its time. The first part of the work is devoted to detailed musicological analyses of all three of Max Bruch's symphonies. They are placed in Bruch's extensive life's work and honoured as important contributions to the history of the genre, in which they are far more than just intermediate links in the development "from Schumann to Brahms".

Robert Volkmann (1815-1883) originally came from Saxony, was friends with Brahms and Liszt, but later worked mainly in Budapest. His First Symphony of 1863 is considered the most important contribution to the genre in the period covered here.