Bruch: Vocal Works

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Explore the complete catalog of Vocal compositions by Bruch. This curated list includes composition years, historical Wikipedia context, and interactive audio to add specific tracks directly to your listening queue.

Title Year Actions
6 Songs, for chorus, orchestra and organ, op. 86

This is a list of musical compositions for keyboard instruments such as the piano, organ or harpsichord and orchestra. See entries for concerto, piano concerto, organ concerto and harpsichord concerto for a description of related musical forms.

9 Songs for Chorus, op. 60

Johannes Brahms (; German: [joˈhanəs ˈbʁaːms] ; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor of the mid-Romantic period. His music is noted for its rhythmic vitality and freer treatment of dissonance, often set within studied yet expressive contrapuntal textures. He adapted the traditional structures and techniques of a wide historical range of earlier composers. His œuvre includes four symphonies, four concertos, a Requiem, much chamber music, and hundreds of folk-song arrangements and Lieder, among other works for symphony orchestra, piano, organ, and choir. Born to a musical family in Hamburg, Brahms began composing and concertizing locally in his youth. He toured Central Europe as a pianist in his adulthood, premiering many of his own works and meeting Franz Liszt in Weimar. Brahms worked with Ede Reményi and Joseph Joachim, seeking Robert Schumann's approval through Joachim. He gained both Robert and Clara Schumann's support and guidance. Brahms stayed with Clara in Düsseldorf, becoming devoted to her amid Robert's insanity and institutionalization. The two remained close, lifelong friends after Robert's death. Brahms never married, perhaps in an effort to focus on his work as a musician and scholar. He was a self-conscious, sometimes severely self-critical composer. Though innovative, his music was considered relatively conservative within the polarized context of the War of the Romantics, an affair in which Brahms regretted his public involvement. His compositions were largely successful, attracting a growing circle of supporters, friends, and musicians. Eduard Hanslick celebrated them polemically as absolute music, and Hans von Bülow even cast Brahms as the successor of Johann Sebastian Bach and Ludwig van Beethoven, an idea Richard Wagner mocked. Settling in Vienna, Brahms conducted the Singakademie and Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde, programming the early and often "serious" music of his personal studies. He considered retiring from composition late in life but continued to write chamber music, especially for Richard Mühlfeld. Brahms's contributions and craftsmanship were admired by his contemporaries like Antonín Dvořák, whose music he enthusiastically supported, and a variety of later composers. Max Reger and Alexander Zemlinsky reconciled Brahms's and Wagner's often contrasted styles. So did Arnold Schoenberg, who emphasized Brahms's "progressive" side. He and Anton Webern were inspired by the intricate structural coherence of Brahms's music, including what Schoenberg termed its developing variation. It remains a staple of the concert repertoire, continuing to influence composers into the 21st century.

Arminius, oratorio for soloists, chorus and orchestra, op. 43

Arminius (Op. 43) is an oratorio by the German composer Max Bruch. Bruch wrote the work between 1875 and 1877 during the consolidation of the newly founded German Empire. He picked the story revolving around Arminius and the Cherusci-led defeat of three Roman legions in the Teutoburg Forest in 9 A.D., which served as a German national myth from the 16th to the early 20th century.

Christkindlieder, 6 pieces for soprano, alto, female chorus and piano, op. 92
Die Flucht nach Ägypten, for soprano, female chorus and orchestra, op. 31, no. 1

Max Bruch composed a number of choral works that were, during his lifetime, judged to be his most successful pieces. Instrumental music makes up only about a third of Bruch's total output, while vocal music forms a considerably larger proportion. These works are described variously as oratorios and cantatas. His oratorios (mostly secular) are generally held to represent the best of his vocal writing. Some were of a religious character but many were based on mythological themes. Many of Bruch's large-scale oratorios were inspired by the unification of Germany of which he was an eager supporter. His subjects focused on national leaders as role models (the Greeks Odysseus and Achilles, the German Arminius, the Swedish Gustav Adolf, and the biblical Moses). Bruch's compositions were eagerly taken up by the many amateur and professional choruses that were thriving in Germany at the time. The New International Encyclopedia stated “the greatest master of the secular oratorio is Bruch.” George Putnam Upton wrote “His greatest successes…. have been made with his works in the cantata form, as he is a recognised master of writing for large masses of voices and instruments, though many of his solo melodies possess great beauty. In this class of his compositions the most conspicuous are Scenes from the Frithjof-Saga… Flight of the Holy Family, Roman Triumph Song, Roman Obsequies, Salamis, Fair Ellen, Odysseus and Rorate Coeli.”

Gruss an die Heilige Nacht, for alto, chorus, orchestra and organ, op. 62

This is a partial list of compositions by Franz Lachner.

Jubilate-Amen, for soprano, chorus and orchestra, op. 3
Laßt uns das Kindelein wiegen, for chorus
Moses, oratorio for soloists, chorus and orchestra, op. 67

Max Bruch composed a number of choral works that were, during his lifetime, judged to be his most successful pieces. Instrumental music makes up only about a third of Bruch's total output, while vocal music forms a considerably larger proportion. These works are described variously as oratorios and cantatas. His oratorios (mostly secular) are generally held to represent the best of his vocal writing. Some were of a religious character but many were based on mythological themes. Many of Bruch's large-scale oratorios were inspired by the unification of Germany of which he was an eager supporter. His subjects focused on national leaders as role models (the Greeks Odysseus and Achilles, the German Arminius, the Swedish Gustav Adolf, and the biblical Moses). Bruch's compositions were eagerly taken up by the many amateur and professional choruses that were thriving in Germany at the time. The New International Encyclopedia stated “the greatest master of the secular oratorio is Bruch.” George Putnam Upton wrote “His greatest successes…. have been made with his works in the cantata form, as he is a recognised master of writing for large masses of voices and instruments, though many of his solo melodies possess great beauty. In this class of his compositions the most conspicuous are Scenes from the Frithjof-Saga… Flight of the Holy Family, Roman Triumph Song, Roman Obsequies, Salamis, Fair Ellen, Odysseus and Rorate Coeli.”

Song of the 3 Holy Kings, for 3 voices, male chorus and orchestra, op. 21

This is a list of Private Passions episodes from 2020 to present. It does not include repeated episodes or compilations.

Welsh folk songs, for mixed chorus

Ralph Vaughan Williams ( RAYF vawn WIL-yəmz; 12 October 1872 – 26 August 1958) was an English composer. His works include operas, ballets, chamber music, secular and religious vocal pieces and orchestral compositions including nine symphonies, written over sixty years. Strongly influenced by Tudor music and English folk-song, his output marked a decisive break in British music from its German-dominated style of the 19th century. Vaughan Williams was born to a well-to-do family with strong moral views and a progressive social outlook. Throughout his life he sought to be of service to his fellow citizens, and believed in making music as available as possible to everybody. He wrote many works for amateur and student performance. He was musically a late developer, not finding his true voice until his late thirties; his studies in 1907–1908 with the French composer Maurice Ravel helped him clarify the textures of his music and free it from Teutonic influences. Vaughan Williams is among the best-known British symphonists, noted for his very wide range of moods, from stormy and impassioned to tranquil, from mysterious to exuberant. Among the most familiar of his other concert works are Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis (1910) and The Lark Ascending (1914). His vocal works include hymns, folk-song arrangements and large-scale choral pieces. He wrote eight works for stage performance between 1919 and 1951. Although none of his operas became popular repertoire pieces, his ballet Job: A Masque for Dancing (1930) was successful and has been frequently staged. Two episodes made notably deep impressions in Vaughan Williams's personal life. The First World War, in which he served in the army, had a lasting emotional impact. Twenty years later, though in his sixties and devotedly married, he was reinvigorated by a love affair with a much younger woman, who later became his second wife. He went on composing through his 70s and 80s, producing his last symphony months before his death at the age of 85. His works have continued to be a staple of the British concert repertoire, and all his major compositions and many of the minor ones have been recorded.