The creative odyssey of Swiss-born composer Ernest Bloch (1880—1959) brought him great musical imagination and technical skill some years before his distinctive personal voice developed. Accordingly, this work is lovely throughout and melodic with ravishing orchestral sounds. Although it's a striking and sincere personal statement, it is also somewhat tentative in the final movement. Fittingly, considering the country of his birth, Bloch began his career with a highly Germanic work (his Symphony in C sharp minor), then quickly switched to a French Romantic perspective. He wrote this orchestral work during the five years he struggled with his most important early work, the opera Macbeth. The influence of Impressionism enters the harmonic and orchestral language, but overall it suggests a somewhat more robust version of Fauré. He dedicated it "to my dear wife." The composition is in two balanced movements, each around seven minutes long. Bloch started it in winter (February 1904) in Paris and completed it in March 1905 back in Geneva. Bloch conducted its first performance in Geneva on January 27, 1906, to an audience that was puzzled by "Hiver" and fully appreciative of "Printemps." This might be because "Hiver" is the more inventive of the pair, with deeper expression. "Hiver" (Winter) is fairly lightly scored. It is in the key of C sharp minor, one of Bloch's favorite tonalities during this phase of his career. The opening section has an uncertain, limping beat. The English horn contributes its typically lonely sounding tones to the opening melody. Darkness, cold, and resulting depression—these are the impressions of the opening part of the piece. There is a central section in E major, the relative key to C sharp minor. It features a bright violin solo and considerable influence of Debussy. When the opening section returns for a condensed recapitulation in C sharp minor, the music tries to slide into the parallel major key. The pastoral sounds of flute and horn might suggest the coming warm season. But the minor key re-establishes itself and the English horn returns with its sad melody. The movement ends on a soft, unresolved dissonance. "Printemps" (Spring) answers the darkness of the opening movement. It is in the bright key of B major and starts with gently dancing woodwind themes in 6/8 time. The music is a little too easy and conventional after the inventive and somewhat expressionistic "Hiver." A trumpet fanfare turns into a joyful dance. This, too, is in a three-part structure. The middle section is a satisfied and calm slow section, untroubled, which grows to a lyrical climax. The original melodies return as the music fades, perhaps into the first warm spring nights. The last word goes to a soft, distant reprise of the trumpet fanfare.

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