Bruch's Scottish Fantasy
From Wikipedia:
The Scottish Fantasy is one of the several signature pieces by Bruch which are still widely heard today, along with the first violin concerto and the Kol Nidrei for cello and orchestra.
. . .
The success of Kol Nidrei led to the assumption by many that Bruch himself was of Jewish ancestry — indeed, as long as the National Socialist Party was in power (1933-1945) his music was banned because he was considered a possible Jew for having written music with an openly Jewish theme. As a result, his music was largely forgotten in German-speaking countries. There is no evidence, however, that Bruch was of Jewish origin. As far as can be ascertained, none of his ancestors were Jews, and Bruch himself was given the middle name Christian and was raised Rhenish-Catholic.
. . .
It is a four movement fantasy on Scottish folk melodies. The fourth movement includes a sprightly arrangement of "Hey Tuttie Tatie," which is the tune in the patriotic anthem "Scots Wha Hae" [Scots, Who Have] (with lyrics by Robert Burns). The first movement is built on a tune variously identified as “Auld Rob Morris” or "Through the Wood Laddie." This tune also appears at the end of the second and fourth movements. The second movement is built around “The Dusty Miller,” and the third on “I'm A' Doun for Lack O' Johnnie.”
Bruch named the piece himself. The title is not a popularized or posthumous moniker.
To me, the beautiful melodies are reminiscent of Irish and Scottish melodies like “Londonderry Air” (a.k.a. “Danny Boy”) and “The Bonnie Banks o Loch Lomond” (most famous lyrics below):
“Oh, ye'll tak' the high road,
and I'll tak' the low road,
And I'll get to Scotland afore ye”
To me, both harmonically and melodically, the Scottish Fantasy has always sounded quintessentially mid- to late 19th century, with preponderant Mendelssohn influences. As you can read in the quotations here, Bruch finished it in 1880.
From the Net:
The best known classical violin piece based on Scottish fiddle tunes comes from a German composer, Max Christian Friedrich Bruch (1838-1920). He wrote the Scottish Fantasy, Op. 46 in Berlin in 1879-80 at the request of the Spanish violin virtuoso Pablo de Sarasate, to whom the work is dedicated. Although Bruch began conducting in England in 1878, he did not make his first visit to Scotland (Glasgow, Aberdeen, and Edinburgh) until 1882, more than a year after the Scottish Fantasy's premiere.
More from Wikipedia:
Max Christian Friedrich Bruch (6 January 1838 – 2 October 1920), also known as Max Karl August Bruch, was a German Romantic composer.
. . .
His complex and unfailingly well-structured works, in the German Romantic musical tradition, placed him in the camp of Romantic classicism exemplified by Johannes Brahms, rather than the opposing "New Music" of Franz Liszt and Richard Wagner. In his time he was known primarily as a choral composer.
