Bruch - Adagio Appassionato

A virtuoso violin piece that Bruch considered to be one of his best works.

'It is one of my best works,' the composer boasted. 

We'll allow Max Bruch a moment of immodesty in this case, as he describes his virtuosic violin showpiece.

Solid orchestral textures provide the framework for this single movement piece, as the sweet violin melodies soar above, or plunge below, the textures. The gorgeous effects produced by the plucked string chords are echoed in his Scottish Fantasy, composed later in 1891. 

The similarities between the themes of this work and Bruch's Third Violin Concerto have led some to believe the Adagio Appasionata was intended to become the third movement of the work, but this is most likely untrue.