When Max Bruch gave the UK premiere of his cantata Das Lied von der Gloke (The Song of the Bell) in Liverpool in 1879, critics gave it rave reviews. How times have changed. Audiences who were used to hearing new music, and who often heard a new work only once, evidently felt comfortable with the piece's conservative idiom and at home with its sentiments. Unfortunately, comparisons with Brahms and Mendelssohn are now hard to avoid, as is the feeling that Bruch lacks their extra spark. And the Schiller text on which the cantata is based - surely one of his worst poems - now reads like a sanctimonious political tract.
Using the casting of a new bell as an unsubtle allegory for the purifying process of the troubled individual's absorption into collective harmony, Schiller preaches the gospel of enlightenment in pedestrian tones that are matched by Bruch's setting. That Schiller's utopian vision turns out to be nothing more exciting than the upholding of civic law and order is disappointing enough. The fact that Bruch chose this poem to serve as propaganda in Bismarck's new Germany makes it even less appealing.
The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic's performance could not be faulted: the Philharmonic choir were in fine voice, with soprano Judith Howarth and bass James Rutherford particularly outstanding. And there were some striking moments, along them the opening, which alternates between portentous declamation and ecstatic orchestral responses, and the sombre, introspective tread of the chorus near the beginning of part two. There were also some comical points. When Schiller warns against the destructive force of the masses, who are selfishly bent on liberation, Bruch launches into a grotesque parody of a brass band, complete with clashing cymbals and trombones.
Ideological quibbles aside, to be overly critical of this long-forgotten work is probably ungrateful. Conductor Gerard Schwarz's commitment to resurrecting such music is, after all, bearing fascinating fruit. Its interest might be more historical than musical, but The Song of the Bell is worth hearing.
