Kol Nidre (Bruch)
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Kol Nidre, Op. 47, is a composition for cello and orchestra written by Max Bruch.
Bruch completed the composition in Liverpool before it was first published in Berlin in 1881. It is styled as an Adagio on Hebrew Melodies and consists of a series of variations on two main themes of Jewish origin. The first theme, which also lends the piece its title, comes from the Kol Nidre prayer which is recited during the evening service on Yom Kippur. In Bruch's setting of the melody, the cello imitates the rhapsodical voice of the hazzan who chants the liturgy in the synagogue. The second subject of the piece is quoted from the middle section of Isaac Nathan's arrangement of "O Weep for those that wept on Babel's stream", a lyric which was penned by Byron in a collection called Hebrew Melodies (which also included the famous poem "She Walks in Beauty").
Bruch was a Protestant and first became acquainted with the Kol Nidre melody when his teacher Ferdinand Hiller introduced him to the Liechtenstein family, the head of which served as the cantor-in-chief of Berlin. Cantor Liechtenstein was known to have cordial relations with many Christian musicians and supported Bruch's interest in Jewish folk music. While some commentators have criticized the dearth of Jewish sentiment in Bruch's concert-hall Kol Nidre, it must be remembered that Bruch never presumed to write Jewish music. He only wished to incorporate Jewish inspirations into his own compositions.
