Ernest Bloch (1880-1959); CHE/USA

Ernest Bloch (1880–1959) was a Swiss-born American composer, conductor, and teacher whose music joined European late-Romantic traditions with a deeply personal exploration of Jewish identity. Born in Geneva, he studied violin and composition in Geneva, Brussels, Frankfurt, and Munich, with teachers including Eugène Ysaÿe and Iwan Knorr. After early work in Europe, Bloch traveled to the United States in 1916 and soon established himself as an important figure in American musical life. He became the first director of the Cleveland Institute of Music in 1920 and later directed the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Bloch became a United States citizen in 1924 and, after periods in Europe and America, eventually settled in Agate Beach, Oregon. An influential teacher as well as a composer, he taught musicians including Roger Sessions, George Antheil, and Randall Thompson.

Bloch’s music is characterized by emotional intensity, strong rhythmic profiles, rich harmonic language, and an often declamatory melodic style. His best-known works draw upon Jewish history, scripture, and spiritual imagination without generally quoting traditional melodies directly. The orchestral work Schelomo, subtitled a Hebrew Rhapsody for cello and orchestra, and the three-part cycle Three Jewish Poems are central examples of this aspect of his art, as is the sacred service Avodath Hakodesh. His broader output includes the opera Macbeth, the orchestral suite America: An Epic Rhapsody, two concerti grossi, string quartets, violin sonatas, and the frequently performed Baal Shem, whose movement Nigun has become especially popular. Bloch’s distinctive synthesis of modern European technique, spiritual searching, and cultural identity gave him a singular place in twentieth-century music.

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Bloch, Ernest (b Geneva, 1880; d Portland, Oregon, 1959). Swiss-born composer (Amer. cit. 1924). First mus. instruction from Jaques-Dalcroze in Geneva 1894-7. Comp str. qt. and sym. before age 15. Brussels Cons. 1897-9, studying vn. with Ysaÿe, followed by spells at Frankfurt with Knorr and Munich with Thuille. Went to Paris 1903. Returned to Geneva 1904, beginning comp. of opera Macbeth (prod. Paris 1910) in which the influence of Mussorgsky and Debussy can be detected together with Bloch's hallmarks of frequent changes of tempo and key, use of modality, cyclic form, and propensity for open 5ths and 4ths. In next few years wrote works of Jewish inspiration, this distinctive and powerful element in his mus. springing from a deep spiritual impulse and not from external application. Prof. of comp. Geneva Cons. 1915. Went to USA 1916 as cond. for the dancer Maud Allan. Returned in 1917 as teacher at Mannes Sch. of Mus., NY, until 1920. First dir., Cleveland Inst. of Mus. 1920-5, dir. S. Francisco Cons., 1925-30. From 1930 to 1939 lived principally in Geneva and Rome. Returned to USA as prof. of mus., Univ. of Calif., Berkeley, 1940-52. Among his Amer. pupils were Sessions, Antheil, Porter, and Kirchner. Prin. works:

OPERA: Macbeth (1904-9).

ORCH.: Vivre-aimer, sym.-poem (1900); sym. in C# minor (1901); Hiver-Printemps, sym.-poem (1904-5); Israel Symphony (1912-16); Trois poèmes juifs (1913); Schelomo, vc., orch. (1916); Suite, va., orch. or pf. (1919); Concerto Grosso No.1, str., pf. (1924-5), No.2, str. (1952); America, sym.-poem (1926); Episodes, chamber orch. (1926); Helvetia, sym.-poem (1928); Voice in the Wilderness, vc. obbl. (1936); Evocations, sym. suite (1937); vn. conc. (1938); Baal Shem, vn., orch. (1939, orch. of 1923 work with pf.); Suite symphonique (1945); Concerto symphonique, pf., orch. (1949); Scherzo fantasque, pf., orch. (1950); In memoriam (1952); Suite hébraïque, va., orch. (1952); Sinfonia breve (1952-3); sym., tb., orch. (1953-4); Sym. in Eb (1954-5); Proclamation, tpt., orch. (1955); Suite modale, fl., str. (1957); 2 Last Poems (Funeral Music and Life Again?), fl., chamber orch. (1958).

VOICE(S) & ORCH.: Poèmes d'automne, mez., orch. (1906); Prelude and 2 Psalms (114 and 137), sop., orch. (1912-14); Psalm 22, bar., orch. (1914); Sacred Service (Avodath Hakodesh), bar., ch., orch. (1930-3).

VOICE & PIANO: Historiettes au crépuscule, mez., pf. (1903).

CHAMBER MUSIC: str. qts.: No.1 (1916), No.2 (1946), No.3 (1951), No.4 (1954), No.5 (1956); Suite, va., pf. (1919, also with orch.); vn. sonatas No.1 (1920), No.2 (Poème mystique) (1924); Baal Shem, vn., pf. (1923, with orch. 1939); pf. quintets No.1 (1923), No.2 (1956); 3 Nocturnes, pf. trio (1924); 2 Suites, str. qt. (1925); Méditation hébraïque and From Jewish Life, vc., pf. (1925); 3 Suites, vc. (1956); 2 Suites, vn. (1958); Suite, va. (1958, last movt. incomplete).

PIANO: sonata (1935); Poems of the Sea; In the Night; Nirvana; 5 Sketches in Sepia.

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