Bruch's Kol Nidrei is based on the Jewish prayer of the same name that is recited during Yom Kippur. The cello takes the melody of the hazzan chanting the liturgy in the first theme, while the second theme was inspired by an Isaac Nathan arrangement of a poem by Lord Byron. That said, the piece is quite unique, more loosely based on Jewish themes than early listeners and critics were expecting. For cello and piano.
