Scottish Fantasy

The composer Max Bruch (portrait by Adolf Neumann, 1881)

The Scottish Fantasy in E-flat major (German: Fantasie für die Violine mit Orchester und Harfe unter freier Benutzung schottischer Volksmelodien), Op. 46, is a composition for violin and orchestra by Max Bruch.[1]: 164  Completed in 1880, it was dedicated to the virtuoso violinist Pablo de Sarasate.[2]

It is a four-movement fantasy on Scottish folk melodies. The first movement is built on "Through the Wood Laddie".[3] This tune also appears at the end of the second and fourth movements. The second movement is built around "The Dusty Miller", the third on "I'm A' Doun for Lack O' Johnnie", and the fourth movement includes a sprightly arrangement of "Hey Tuttie Tatie", the tune in the patriotic anthem "Scots Wha Hae" (with lyrics by Robert Burns).

Although Bruch visited Scotland for the first time only a year after the premiere of the work, he had access to a collection of Scottish music at Munich Library in 1868. In paying homage to Scottish tradition, the work gives a prominent place to the harp in the instrumental accompaniment to the violin. The Scottish Fantasy is one of several signature pieces by Bruch that is still widely heard today, along with his first violin concerto and Kol Nidrei for cello and orchestra.

  1. ^ Fitfield 2005
  2. ^ Fifield, Christopher (2005). Max Bruch: His Life and Works. Boydell Press. ISBN 978-1-84383-136-5.
  3. ^ Pine 2005