Max Bruch was a distinguished German Romantic composer, conductor and teacher widely recognised for his famous masterpiece Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor, Op. 26, counted among the most popular violin concertos in solo violin repertoire. Two of his other signature pieces that are still widely heard in concert programs include the compositions Scottish Fantasy in E-flat major for violin and orchestra; and Kol Nidrei, Op. 47 for cello and orchestra. Bruch started taking musical lessons as a child, wrote his first composition at age 9 and penned down a symphony at age 14 that won him a scholarship enabling him to study at Cologne. His rich oeuvre of over 200 works includes operas like Die Loreley, orchestral works like Swedish Dances, works for soloist(s) and orchestra such as Violin Concerto No. 2 in D minor, Op. 44, and choral works like Odysseus: Szenen aus der Odyssee. His works for choir and orchestra garnered him considerable success in his lifetime and remained popular among German choral societies during the late 19th century. He held several musical posts including in Koblenz, Mannheim, Sondershausen, Berlin and Bonn. He served as a professor at the Berlin Academy of Arts; as conductor of the Liverpool Philharmonic Society; and taught composition for two decades at the Berlin Hochschule für Musik. His use of Jewish folk music in Kol Nidrei led many to erroneously believe that he was Jewish and although Bruch and later his surviving family repeatedly denied this, performance of his music was restricted as long as the Nazi Party was in power. His music was thus mostly forgotten in German-speaking countries.