BRUCH Violin Concerto No. 1

Of the four great German violin concertos (the other three by Beethoven, Brahms and Mendelssohn), Bruch’s First Violin Concerto is described as “the richest and the most seductive”. Bruch went on to compose two other violin concertos but neither would come close to achieving the popularity of the ingenious first. Success did not come easily to the composer, however. The concerto had a lengthy gestation period, with sketches dating back to 1857, 11 years before its official premiere. He confided in his former teacher Ferdinand Hiller in a letter, “My Violin Concerto is progressing slowly – I do not feel sure of my feet in this terrain. Do you think that it is in fact very audacious to write a Violin Concerto?” He eventually sought the advice of Joseph Joachim, the violinist-composer who also assisted Brahms and Dvořák with their concertos. The piece was completed in 1868 and was premiered by Joseph Joachim himself. For Bruch, melody was “the soul of music” and the violin was the best instrument for “singing”. His Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor, Op. 26 is what has kept his name firmly in the repertoire since the day of its premiere.

MAX BRUCH Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor, Op. 26
0:00 I. Vorspiel. Allegro moderato
9:05 II. Adagio
17:11 III. Finale. Allegro energico
24:23 Applause

Vorspiel - Instead of following compositional conventions slavishly, Bruch omits the usual orchestral exposition as well as the proportions of usual concertos. The concerto opens with an unusual Vorspiel (“prelude” in German), which serves as a lengthy introduction to the second movement. Rather than being the weightiest movement of the work, it is less structured and more fantasy-like than the first movements of most concertos. The piece starts off slowly as Bruch makes room for two expansive melodies: the strong first theme and a very melodic second theme. The movement ends as it begins, with the virtuosic cadenzas more prominent than before. A single low note from the first violins connects the piece with the second movement.

Adagio - The heart of the concerto. It is warmly lyrical and exceptionally rich in melodic inventions. A powerful display of Bruch’s gift of melody, he assigns three heartfelt themes that are gradually taken up by the orchestra with increasing fervour as the violin becomes increasingly passionate and agitated. The poised and elegiac melody carries the music on a tide of emotion.

Finale - The quiet suspense of the finale’s opening is broken by the grand entrance of the violin featuring a jaunty theme with Gypsy flair. This movement is fun, with contrasting interludes of soaring nobility. The piece eventually comes to a powerful accelerando, bringing the music to a high-spirited conclusion. (Lin Tonglin)

Chloe Chua, Artist-In-Residence/violin
Singapore Symphony Orchestra
Lawrence Renes, conductor

This concert was recorded live at the Esplanade Concert Hall, Singapore, on 3 Mar 2023.
Audio & video production: msm-productions (Singapore)

Chloe Chua (b. 2007) shot to international stardom after winning the joint 1st Prize at the 2018 Yehudi Menuhin International Competition for Young Violinists. The young star from Singapore has also garnered the top prize at the 24th Andrea Postacchini Violin Competition, 3rd prize at the 2017 Zhuhai International Mozart Competition, as well as accolades at the Thailand International Strings Competition (Junior Category Grand Prize) and the Singapore National Piano
and Violin Competition (1st Prize, Junior 2017, 3rd Prize, Junior 2015).

Her stunning musicality despite her young age has captured the hearts of audiences around the world, and her performances have taken her to concert halls and orchestras across the U.S.A., U.K., Italy, Germany, Saudi Arabia, China, Thailand and Singapore, in festivals such as the Copenhagen Summer Festival, New Virtuosi Queenswood Mastercourse, Atlanta Festival Academy and the Singapore Violin Festival.

For the 2022/23 and 23/24 seasons, Chloe has been Artist-In-Residence at the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, performing several concerts and recording projects across 2022 to 2024. Her debut album of The Four Seasons was released in 2023 and a complete Mozart Violin Concertos with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra and Hans Graf will follow. Her previous recordings include a Piazzolla album with guitarist Kevin Loh. Chloe has been with Singapore’s Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA) School of Young Talents since age 4, and is currently under the tutelage of Yin Ke, leader of their strings programme.

In this concert, Chloe performs on a Giovanni Battista Guadagnini, Milan, 1753, on generous loan from the Rin Collection.