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Bruch begins where Handel ends
Although he claimed that biblical subject matter was foreign to his nature, the challenge of writing music about Moses during the period of the exodus pushed Max Bruch to compose the oratorio
As a composer of music with a Jewish theme, German born Max Bruch, (1838 – 1920) is probably best known for his composition 'Kol Nidrei'. Bruch, a Protestant, did not consider his 'Kol Nidrei' a Jewish composition. He claimed it was just an artistic arrangement of a folk tune.
The oratorio 'Moses' is a lesser-known work from this fine romantic composer with a strongly identified Jewish theme. Although he claimed that biblical subject matter was foreign to his nature, the challenge of writing music about Moses during the period of the exodus was a decidedly governing factor. 'Moses' begins where Handel's oratorio 'Israel in Egypt' ends.
"As far as I can conclude, no other musician of relevance has ever addressed this part of Moses' history," he said.
"The old masters have made such formidable contributions in this area. It is no coincidence that every oratorio written since Mendelssohn has been a failure," Bruch added. 'Moses' premiered in 1895 after which Bruch claimed he could not have written the work had not a deep feeling of divinity been alive in his soul.
It is interesting to compare Bruch's feelings with those of Austrian born Jewish composer Arnold Schoenberg (1874-1951) who also composed 'Kol Nidrei' and 'Moses and Aron'.
Emigrating to America and returning to his Jewish roots in the 1930s after converting to Christianity, Schoenberg composed a version of 'Kol Nidrei' for male speaker, mixed choir and orchestra. One of the reasons given for composing the work was that he found Bruch's version insipid and wanted to obliterate the excessive sensitivity of the cello.
Schoenberg's concert opera 'Moses and Aron' has a most unusual history. He composed the piece in three acts and wrote the libretto in three acts, but having completed the musical score of acts one and two by 1932, the final act was left unfinished with just a few sketches available for a further 19 years before his death in 1951. Yet, during those 19 years he composed a great deal of other music.
The opera, even in its incomplete state is both absorbing and impressive, but it is unclear why it was never completed.
Schoenberg suffered from a complaint known as Triskaidekaphobia – the fear of the number 13. This condition may have started in 1908 when he was faced with composing the thirteenth song of a song cycle. He was a highly superstitious man.
His superstition of the number 13 is the reason why he named the opera 'Moses and Aron', omitting the second 'a' in the spelling of Aaron, thus reducing the number of letters in the name of the opera from 13 to 12.
It is fascinating to record that Arnold Schoenberg was born on the 13th day of the month and died on the 13th day of the month, both events over which he had no control.
