RO NOW: Bruch & Mendelssohn

What are you going to listen to?

Artists in the nationalist nineteenth century also drew inspiration from other countries and cultures. Scotland was an exotic source of inspiration for German romantics such as Beethoven, Schumann, Mendelssohn and Bruch. This Last also read Scottish novels by Sir Walter Scott and set poems by Robert Burns to music. His Scottish fascination resulted in one of his most popular works: the Scottish Fantasy for violin and orchestra with harp, based on Scottish folk melodies. He completed this four-movement "violin concerto" in 1880 and dedicated it to violin virtuoso Pablo de Sarasate. Funnily enough, Bruch first visited Scotland only a year after the premiere. He had learned the Scottish melodies in the library in Munich. For the Celtic couleur locale, he added a harp to the piece.

The Fantasy opens with a solemn brass chorale followed by a recitative by the soloist. This turns into a lyrical Adagio cantabile based on the song Auld Robin Morris in which the harp is almost as present as the violin. The second movement is a lively dance to the song Hey, the Dusty Miller. The "drone" (through tones) in the cellos and basses imitate the bagpipes above which the soloist is able to indulge like a merry fiddler. Then Auld Robin Morris returns briefly followed by a slow movement. The finale, Allegro guerriero (warlike allegro) features the war song Scots wha hae. The famous medieval song is said to have been sung by Robert the Bruce after his victory of the English at the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314. The song symbolizes Scottish independence and became Scotland's unofficial anthem. After a quiet passage, the entire orchestra repeats the warlike song, and after a brilliant violin cadence, the Fantasy ends with a rousing finale.

'Scottish' symphony?

Mendelssohn was a master of musical landscape painting. Examples of this are the "waves" in the Hebrides overture, but also in his Scottish and Italian symphonies he manages to express the dark or, on the contrary, sunny atmosphere of these countries.

In 1829, the only 20-year-old Mendelssohn was one of the best composers and pianists in Europe. His performance in London that year was a resounding success. To escape the hustle and bustle of the city, he went hiking in the Scottish highlands in the summer of 1829. The German composer was greatly impressed by Scottish nature and it was here that the sketches for the beginning of the symphony and the Hebrides overture were born. He completed the overture the following year, but the symphony only in Berlin in 1842. He conducted the premiere himself and brought the symphony to London which made him even more beloved by the British public and royalty. Queen Victoria even gave him permission to dedicate a work to her!

Although Mendelssohn often referred to his symphony as "the Scottish one," it does not appear on the title page. Yet many commentators saw Scottish songs and references in it. However, Mendelssohn denied in letters that it contained Scottish folk music. 'It is the scenes, ruins and nature from which I draw musical inspiration,' he stated.

The four movements of the symphony blend together, and the dramatic work ends with an optimistic hymn. Mendelssohn's "Scottish" is definitely one of the symphonic highlights of early Romanticism.

Ruben Heimans