Mysterious, hushed, and melodic, this is a very dark-hued piece to be subtitled "A Love Poem." But as an atmospheric short piece for orchestra, it is very effective. Like a good short story, this 1922 composition explores just one mood: a kind of hushed, yearning, sleepless, and ultimately disturbed nocturne. Bloch, Swiss-born and already noted as an important composer, had found himself stranded in the United States. To earn extra money, he had accepted a position with a traveling dance company that ran out of money while in that country. Bloch had to scramble to find other musical work, but his principal occupation was as a teacher at the Mannes School of Music in New York. To help support himself and make enough money to bring over his wife and three daughters, he wrote numerous short pieces for various formations of players. Little is known about the circumstances of this piece, which he eventually orchestrated. It is in the dark key of A flat minor and after emerging from the darkness, it soon sinks back, defeated.

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