{"id":7720,"date":"2021-12-20T20:00:39","date_gmt":"2021-12-20T19:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/?p=5285"},"modified":"2021-12-20T21:24:08","modified_gmt":"2021-12-20T20:24:08","slug":"seven-of-the-best-works-by-ernest-bloch","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/rss_feed\/seven-of-the-best-works-by-ernest-bloch\/","title":{"rendered":"Seven of the best\u2026 works by Ernest Bloch"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By BBC Music Magazine\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Monday, 20 December 2021 at 12:00 am<\/p>

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The composer, born in Geneva, Switzerland to Jewish parents, began playing the violin aged nine and started composing soon after. Initially making music in a Romantic style, his composition evolved into taking inspiration from his Jewish background, as he claimed the Hebrew spirit was one of his most important inspirations. Throughout his varied career, there are many musical, if not always critical highlights.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Here are seven of the best<\/strong>\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

4 Jewish composers suppressed by Nazism and the Third Reich<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>
Ernest Bloch best works<\/h2>\n
Hiver\u2013Printemps, two symphonic poems for orchestra (1905)<\/strong><\/p>\n
Before adopting the Jewish-influenced sound he was best known for, Bloch took inspiration from a number of different periods in musical history. On Hiver-Printemps <\/em>(Winter-Spring), there is a strong influence from French Romanticism. From the use of mysterious violin and oboe melodies in the first movement, to the bright trumpet fanfares of the second, this piece showed that even before finding his own voice, Bloch was a composer of many strengths.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>Macbeth (1906)<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Based on the Shakespeare play that also inspired works by Verdi and Richard Strauss, Bloch\u2019s <em>Macbeth<\/em> faced numerous difficulties at the time. It received mixed reviews reportedly due to conflict within the cast, was unperformed for almost 30 years, and was banned by the anti-Semitic Mussolini due to Bloch\u2019s Jewish faith during its 1938 Naples revival. This meant that it took over a century to receive its UK premiere in 2009 and US premiere in 2013. Bloch was even initially sceptical about the idea of using Macbeth as subject matter for his only opera, wanting instead to focus on material of \u2018great gaiety\u2019. But despite its difficulties, this was a work that made a lot of Bloch\u2019s contemporaries realise they were justified in their faith to the composer.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\""lazy"\" src=\""https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/EzNpQYT-T8w"\" width=\""625"\" height=\""300"\" frameborder=\""0"\" allowfullscreen=\""allowfullscreen"\"\/><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Israel Symphony (1912-1916)<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>From 1911-1926, Bloch gained his own compositional voice in what was known as his Jewish Cycle, a period where he took influence from Jewish culture and spirit for works such as this piece, his <em>Israel Symphony<\/em>. The work features five soloists towards the end \u2013 four women\u2019s voices and a solo bass. This piece is a fascinating listen for its juxtaposition of the symphony orchestra and Jewish themes, such as in the first movement, <em>Prayer in the Desert<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\""lazy"\" src=\""https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/HQKnXwZ9kZQ"\" width=\""625"\" height=\""300"\" frameborder=\""0"\" allowfullscreen=\""allowfullscreen"\"\/><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Schelomo: Hebrew Rhapsody (1916)<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>The final work written before the composer settled in the US in 1916, this work for cello and orchestra marks the height of Bloch\u2019s Jewish Cycle and became a standard of the cello repertoire. The piece\u2019s title is the Hebrew translation of Solomon, as he was inspired to write it after seeing a statue of King Solomon made by another cellist\u2019s wife. There are hints of the Romantic Era, but this is very much a piece of Bloch\u2019s own style, thanks to his use of oriental motifs, colourful use of orchestra and dynamic lyricism.<iframe loading=\""lazy"\" src=\""https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/9B4bZRUq6RU"\" width=\""625"\" height=\""300"\" frameborder=\""0"\" allowfullscreen=\""allowfullscreen"\"\/><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Baal Shem: 3 Pictures from Hassidic Life (1923)<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Music expert Erik Levi believes that Bloch\u2019s Jewish Cycle came as a result of the inner impulses of his heart rather than him consciously writing music in a Jewish style. In few places was his music more heartfelt than this violin and orchestra piece. Named after Baal Shem Tov, the 18<sup>th<\/sup>-century founder of the Hassidic movement, it is designed as an exploration of the Jewish spirit across its three movements, the sweet but mournful <em>Contrition<\/em>, the virtuosic and dramatic <em>Improvisation<\/em> and the bright and optimistic <em>Rejoicing<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\""lazy"\" src=\""https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/__w2xjbE4qU"\" width=\""625"\" height=\""300"\" frameborder=\""0"\" allowfullscreen=\""allowfullscreen"\"\/><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<h3><strong>From Jewish Life (1924)<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>This three-movement work for cello and piano was dedicated to New York Philharmonic solo cellist Hans Kindler, who had previously premiered <em>Schelomo<\/em>. One of the later works of the composer\u2019s Jewish Cycle, the main focus of the work is not so much virtuosity as it is emotion and expression. As well as the Jewish spirit of the piece, there is a Romantic-style cello line, Debussian chords in the piano and a sharing of the melodic line between cello and piano.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\""lazy"\" src=\""https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/bKuC84EkEDI"\" width=\""625"\" height=\""300"\" frameborder=\""0"\" allowfullscreen=\""allowfullscreen"\"\/><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Two Last Poems (1958)<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>This was one of Bloch\u2019s final compositions before his death from cancer the following year. It features two uninterrupted movements, \u2018Funeral Music\u2019 and \u2018Life Again?\u2019, prophetically both named before his cancer diagnosis. For the composer\u2019s late period, he was living in Agate Beach, a seaside area in Lincoln County, Oregon. During this period he continued to take influence from music\u2019s past, but on pieces such as this he also experimented with the avant-garde with tritones and disjunct modal flute melodies.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\""lazy"\" src=\""https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/_rn60EqUVeE"\" width=\""625"\" height=\""300"\" frameborder=\""0"\" allowfullscreen=\""allowfullscreen"\"\/><\/p>\n<p><em>Alec Evans<\/em><\/p><\/body><\/html>\n<hr class=\"no-tts wp-block-separator\"\/>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By BBC Music Magazine Published: Monday, 20 December 2021 at 12:00 am The composer, born in Geneva, Switzerland to Jewish parents, began playing the violin aged nine and started composing soon after. Initially making music in a Romantic style, his composition evolved into taking inspiration from his Jewish background, as he claimed the Hebrew spirit […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":7721,"template":"","categories":[1,17],"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"4"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2021\/12\/seven-of-the-best-works-by-ernest-bloch.jpg",625,350,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2021\/12\/seven-of-the-best-works-by-ernest-bloch-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2021\/12\/seven-of-the-best-works-by-ernest-bloch-300x168.jpg",300,168,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2021\/12\/seven-of-the-best-works-by-ernest-bloch.jpg",625,350,false],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2021\/12\/seven-of-the-best-works-by-ernest-bloch.jpg",625,350,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2021\/12\/seven-of-the-best-works-by-ernest-bloch.jpg",625,350,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2021\/12\/seven-of-the-best-works-by-ernest-bloch.jpg",625,350,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"By BBC Music Magazine Published: Monday, 20 December 2021 at 12:00 am The composer, born in Geneva, Switzerland to Jewish parents, began playing the violin aged nine and started composing soon after. Initially making music in a Romantic style, his composition evolved into taking inspiration from his Jewish background, as he claimed the Hebrew spirit…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/7720"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7721"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7720"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7720"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}