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Ernest Bloch

 
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia: Ernest Bloch
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(born July 24, 1880, Geneva, Switz. — died July 15, 1959, Portland, Ore., U.S.) Swiss-born U.S. composer. He conducted and lectured at the Geneva Conservatory before moving in 1916 to the U.S., where he served as director of the San Francisco Conservatory (1925 – 30) and taught at the University of California, Berkeley (1942 – 52). He worked in tonal, atonal, and serialist idioms (see also tonality; atonality; serialism); his works, many of them inspired by Jewish themes, include the opera Macbeth (1910), Schelomo for cello and orchestra (1916), the large choral works America (1926) and Avodath hakodesh (1933), and a violin concerto (1938).

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Music Encyclopedia: Ernest Bloch
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(b Geneva, 24 July 1880; d Portland, or, 15 July 1959). American composer. He studied with Dalcroze in Geneva, in Brussels (1897-9) and with Knorr in Frankfurt (1900). In 1916 he went to the USA, thereafter spending most of his time there (he took citizenship in 1924). He also taught at Cleveland (1920-25), San Francisco (1925-30) and Berkeley (1940-52). His early works are eclectic: the opera Macbeth (1910) draws on Strauss, Musorgsky and Debussy. Then came a period of concern mostly with Jewish subjects (Schelomo for cello and orchestra,1916), followed by a vigorous neo-classicism (Piano Quintet no.1, 1923; Concerto grosso no.1 for strings and piano, 1925). He returned to epic compositions in the 1930s with the Sacred Service (Avodath hakodesh, 1933) and the Violin Concerto (1937). His last works represent a summation of his career and lean towards a less subjective style.


Biography: Ernest Bloch
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The Swiss-born American composer and teacher Ernest Bloch (1880-1959) was noted for orchestral and chamber music of highly individual style. He directed two music conservatories in the United States.

Ernest Bloch was born in Geneva on July 24, 1880. Showing musical gifts at an early age, he studied violin with Louis Rey and theory with Émile Jacques-Dalcroze. In 1897 Bloch went to Brussels, where he studied violin with Eugène Ysaye, and then to Frankfurt, studying composition with Iwan Knorr.

Bloch composed his first important work, the Symphony in C-sharp Minor, at the age of 21. In 1904, after having written some songs and a symphonic work, Hiver Printemps, he began to work on his opera, Macbeth, with a libretto by Edmond Fleg, and it was premiered in Paris in 1910. Bloch became a professor at the Geneva Conservatory in 1911. Among his pupils was the conductor Ernest Ansermet.

The compositions Bloch wrote between 1912 and 1916 - Three Jewish Poems; settings of Psalms 137, 114, and 22; Schelomo; Israel; and String Quartet No. 1 - when premiered during his first visit to the United States in 1917, brought him spectacular recognition. He soon settled in New York City with his family, teaching and lecturing. Among his pupils were Roger Sessions, George Antheil, Douglas Moore, Quincy Porter, Randall Thompson, Frederick Jacobi, Herbert Elwell, and Leon Kirchner.

In 1919 Bloch won the Coolidge Prize (Suite for Viola and Piano), in 1926 the Carolyn Beebe Prize (Four Episodes for Chamber Orchestra), in 1928 the Musical America Prize (an orchestral rhapsody, America), and in 1930 the Victor Prize (Helvetia).

As director of the Cleveland Institute of Music and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music (1920-1930), Bloch made a strong impact. He continued to compose works, such as the Concerto Grosso No. 1, which are tonal, classical in form, and conservatively modern. Bloch vitalized the atmosphere with his enthusiasm, informality, and rather stubborn opinions.

After 1930 Bloch returned to Europe to live, where he composed a sacred service, a piano sonata, a violin concerto, and some large orchestral works. The events leading to World War II affected him deeply, and he stopped composing for some time.

On his return to America, Bloch and his wife, Marguerite, settled in Agate Beach, Ore. He gave master courses for several summers at the University of California at Berkeley and became professor emeritus in 1952. Many of the 25 works he wrote during his final years are considered his peak achievements. They include four String Quartets, Symphony in E-flat, Sinfonia Breve, Piano Quintet No. 11, works for trombone, trumpet, and flute with orchestra, and several suites for unaccompanied stringed instruments.

In 1958, after a long illness, Bloch submitted to surgery; on July 15, 1959, he died. He had received many honors, medals, and honorary degrees, but he always remained unworldly, preferring the solitude of nature to the social life of big cities.

Further Reading

General works which discuss Bloch's music include Guido Pannain, Modern Composers (1932; trans. 1932); John Tasker Howard, Our Contemporary Composers: American Music in the Twentieth Century (1941); David Ewen, The Book of Modern Composers (1942; 3d ed. rev. and enlarged 1961) and The World of Twentieth-Century Music (1968); Joseph Machlis, Introduction to Contemporary Music (1961); and Otto Deri, Exploring Twentieth-Century Music (1968).

Additional Sources

Strassburg, Robert., Ernest Bloch, voice in the wilderness: a biographical study, 1977 (Los Angeles: Trident Shop, California State University).

 
Columbia Encyclopedia: Ernest Bloch
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Bloch, Ernest (blŏk, Ger. blôkh), 1880-1959, Swiss-American composer. Among his teachers were Jaques-Dalcroze and Ysaÿe. He taught at the Geneva Conservatory, 1911-15, and at the Mannes School, New York, 1917-19; he was director of the Cleveland Institute of Music, 1920-25, and of the San Francisco Conservatory, 1925-30. His music is based in the classical tradition, but it has a peculiarly personal intensity of expression and often a distinct Hebraic quality, as in the Hebrew rhapsody Schelomo and the symphonic poem Israel (both 1916). Other outstanding works are an opera, Macbeth (1909); a concerto grosso, for string orchestra and piano (1925); the symphonic poems America (1926) and Helvetia (1929); a modern setting of the Jewish Sacred Service (1933); and A Voice in the Wilderness, for cello and orchestra (1937).
Artist: Ernest Bloch
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Ernest Bloch
  • Period: Modern (1910-1949)
  • Country: Switzerland/USA
  • Born: July 24, 1880 in Geneva, Switzerland
  • Died: July 15, 1959 in Portland, OR
  • Genres: Chamber Music, Choral Music, Concerto, Keyboard Music, Orchestral Music, Symphony, Vocal Music

Biography

A highly individual composer, Ernest Bloch did not pioneer any new style in music but spoke with a distinctive voice into which he could assimilate folk influences, 12-tone technique, and even coloristic quarter tones. In a stylistically atomized century his interests were universal, and his music was both beloved by the public and inspirational for a younger and more academically oriented generation.

His father was the quintessential Swiss, a well-off manufacturer of watches and clocks, including cuckoo clocks. Ernest had a diverse musical training that included advanced violin training, study of eurhythmics with Émile Jacques-Dalcroze; he traveled from Switzerland to Belgium, Munich, and Paris in due course. Bloch wrote prolifically in his student years but did not publish any of his works. He is not related to his contemporary Ernest Bloch (1885-1977), a German philosopher interested in musical issues.

Bloch married Margarethe Schneider in 1904; one of their children, Suzanne, became a well-known lute player. His music began to attract interest, and in 1910 his opera Macbeth was staged in Paris to a mostly uncomprehending audience. About this time he began writing music with specifically Jewish aspects in subject matter, reflected by orientalisms in the melodies -- often derived from Jewish worship chants and folk music. Some of the best known compositions of this series are the violin work Baal-Shem, an Israel Symphony, and Schelomo, a tone poem that also is one of the great cello concertos.

In 1916 he traveled to the U.S. as conductor for the Maud Allan dance company. The outfit went broke, stranding him in Ohio. The composer was thus forced to remain in America, but he soon found success as a composer, conductor, and music school administrator and teacher. In 1924 he took American citizenship. He became director of the San Francisco Conservatory in 1925 and in 1927 won first prize in a contest sponsored by Musical America with his composition America, an Epic Rhapsody.

He returned to Switzerland in 1930, and mostly lived there for the next decade. He composed and traveled widely in Europe to conduct his works. The rise of Nazism in Germany and a desire to retain his U.S. citizenship prompted a return to that country before World War II broke out. He settled at scenic Agate Beach, OR, and was appointed a professor at the University of California in Berkeley, teaching summer courses until he retired in 1952.

During both of his American teaching careers he shaped the early careers of an enviable list of successful students, including Antheil, Kirchner, and Sessions. Bloch died of cancer in 1959. ~ Joseph Stevenson, All Music Guide

Discography

Bloch: Sacred Service Auodath Hakodesh

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Wikipedia: Ernest Bloch
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Ernest Bloch with children
This article is about the composer. For the philosopher, see Ernst Bloch.

Ernest Bloch (July 24, 1880 – July 15, 1959) was a Swiss-born American composer.

Contents

Life

Bloch was born in Geneva and began playing the violin at age 9. He began composing soon afterwards. He studied music at the conservatory in Brussels, where his teachers included the celebrated Belgian violinist Eugène Ysaÿe. He then travelled around Europe, moving to Germany (where he studied composition from 1900-1901 with Iwan Knorr at the Hoch Conservatory in Frankfurt), on to Paris in 1903 and back to Geneva before settling in the United States of America in 1916, taking American citizenship in 1924. He held several teaching appointments in the U.S., with George Antheil, Frederick Jacobi, Bernard Rogers, and Roger Sessions among his pupils. In December 1920 he was appointed the first Musical Director of the newly formed Cleveland Institute of Music, a post he held until 1925. Following this he was director of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music until 1930.

In 1941 Bloch moved to the small coastal community of Agate Beach, Oregon[1] and lived there the rest of his life. He died in 1959 in Portland, Oregon, of cancer at the age of 78. The Bloch Memorial has been moved from near his house in Agate Beach to a more prominent location at the Newport Performing Arts Center in Newport, Oregon[2].

Music

Bloch's early works, including his opera Macbeth (1910) show the influence of both the Germanic school of Richard Strauss and the impressionism of Claude Debussy. Mature works, including his best-known pieces, often draw on Jewish liturgical and folk music. These works include Schelomo (1916) for cello and orchestra, which he dedicated to the cellist Alexandre Barjansky ( Barjansky Stradivarius ) the Israel Symphony (1916), Baal Shem for violin and piano (1923, later version for violin and orchestra), the "Jewish Life" suite for cello and piano, and Avodath Hakodesh (Sacred Service, 1933) for baritone, choir and orchestra. Other pieces from this period include a violin concerto written for Joseph Szigeti and the rhapsody America for chorus and orchestra.

Leopold Stokowski and the Symphony of the Air made the first stereo recording of America for Vanguard Records, which included a short speech by Bloch that explained why he wrote the piece; years later, the Seattle Symphony Orchestra recorded the work for Delos.

Pieces written after World War II are a little more varied in style, though Bloch's essentially Romantic idiom remains. Some, such as the Suite hébraïque (1950) continue the Jewish theme; others, such as the second concerto grosso (1952), display an interest in neo-classicism (though here too the harmonic language is basically Romantic, even though the form is Baroque); and others, including the late string quartets, include elements of atonality.

Works

Stage

Macbeth : Opera in 3 Acts 1909 Geneva-Paris

Orchestral

  • Symphony in C-sharp minor 1902
  • Hiver-Printemps 1905 Paris-Geneva
  • Trois Poèmes Juifs pour Grand Orchestre 1913 Satigny
  • Israel : Symphony for Orchestra 1916 Geneva
  • In The Night : A Love Poem for Orchestra 1922 Cleveland
  • Poems of The Sea for Orchestra 1922 Cleveland
  • Concerto Grosso No. 1, for String Orchestra with Piano Obbligato 1925 Santa Fe - Cleveland
  • Four Episodes for Chamber Orchestra 1926 San Francisco
  • Helvetia, Symphonic Poem 1929 Frankfurt - San Francisco
  • Evocations : Symphonic Suite for Orchestra 1937 Châtel,Haute Savoie
  • Suite Symphonique 1944 Agate Beach
  • In Memoriam 1952 Agate Beach
  • Concerto Grosso No. 2 for Strings 1952 Agate Beach
  • Sinfonia Breve 1953 Agate Beach
  • Symphony in E-flat 1955 Agate Beach

Concertante

  • Schelomo, Rhapsodie Hébraïque pour Violoncelle solo et Grand Orchestre (1916 Geneva-New York)
  • Suite for Viola and Orchestra 1919 New York
  • Voice In The Wilderness, Symphonic Poem for Orchestra with Violoncello Obbligato 1936 Châtel,Haute Savoie
  • Concerto for Violin and Orchestra 1938 Châtel,Haute Savoie
  • Baal Shem for Violin and Orchestra 1939
  • Concerto Symphonique for Piano and Orchestra 1948 Agate Beach
  • Scherzo Fantasque for Piano and Orchestra 1948 Agate Beach
  • Concertino for Flute,Viola and String Orchestra 1950 Agate Beach
  • Suite Hébraïque, for Viola (or Violin) and Orchestra 1951 Agate Beach
  • Symphony for Trombone and Orchestra 1954 Agate Beach
  • Proclamation for Trumpet and Orchestra 1955 Agate Beach
  • Suite Modale for Flute & String Orchestra 1956 Agate Beach
  • Two Last Poems for Flute Solo and Orchestra 1958 Agate Beach

Vocal/Choral Orchestral

  • Historiettes au Crépuscule for Mezzo-soprano and piano 1904 Paris
  • Poèmes d'Automne for Mezzo-soprano and Orchestra 1906 Geneva
  • Psaume 22 1913 Satigny
  • Deux Psaumes pour Soprano et Orchestre, précédés d'un Prélude Orchestral 1914 Satigny
  • Avodath Hakodesh (Sacred Service) 1933 Roveredo-Ticino
  • America: An Epic Rhapsody, for chorus and orchestra (1926 San Francisco)

Chamber

  • Piano Quintet No. 1 (1923 Cleveland)
  • Piano Quintet No. 2 (1957)
  • String Quartet
    • String Quartet No. 1 (1916 Geneva - New York)
    • String Quartet No. 2 (1945 Agate Beach)
    • String Quartet No. 3 (1952 Agate Beach)
    • String Quartet No. 4 (1953 Agate Beach)
    • String Quartet No. 5 (1956 Agate Beach)
    • In The Mountains (1925 Cleveland)
    • Night (1925 Cleveland)
    • Paysages (1925 Cleveland; the first movement Night was inspired by Robert J. Flaherty's Nanook of the North)
    • Prelude (1925 Cleveland)
    • Two Pieces (1938, 1950 Châtel, Haute Savoie - Agate Beach)
  • Three Nocturnes, for piano trio (1924 Cleveland)

Instrumental

  • Violin
    • Sonata for Violin and Piano No.1 1920 Cleveland
    • Baal Shem 1923 Cleveland
    • Poème Mystique : Sonata for Violin and Piano No.2 1924 Cleveland
    • Nuit Exotique 1924 Cleveland
    • Abodah 1929 San Francisco
    • Mélodie 1929 San Francisco
    • Suite Hébraïque, for Violin and Piano 1951 Agate Beach
    • Suite No. 1 for Violin solo 1958 Agate Beach
    • Suite No. 2 for Violin solo 1958 Agate Beach
  • Viola
    • Suite for Viola and Piano 1919 New York
    • Suite Hébraïque 1951 Agate Beach
    • Meditation and Processional 1951 Agate Beach
    • Suite for Viola solo (unfinished) 1958 Agate Beach
  • Cello
    • Méditation Hébraïque 1924 Cleveland
    • From Jewish Life 1925 Cleveland
    • Suite No. 1 for Violoncello solo 1956 Agate Beach
    • Suite No. 2 for Violoncello solo 1956 Agate Beach
    • Suite No. 3 for Violoncello solo 1957 Agate Beach
  • Suite Modale for Flute & Piano 1956 Agate Beach

Piano

  • Ex-voto 1914 Geneva
  • In The Night : A Love Poem for Piano 1922 Cleveland
  • Poems of The Sea 1922 Cleveland
  • Four Circus Pieces 1922 Cleveland
  • Danse Sacrée 1923 Cleveland

*Enfantines (Ten piano pieces for children) 1923 Cleveland

  • Nirvana : Poem for Piano 1923 Cleveland
  • Five Sketches in Sepia 1923 Cleveland
  • Sonata for Piano 1935 Châtel, Haute Savoie (written for Guido Agosti)
  • Visions et Prophéties 1936 Châtel, Haute Savoie

Organ

  • 6 Preludes 1949 Agate Beach
  • 4 Wedding Marches 1950 Agate Beach

Family

Ernest Bloch and his wife Marguerite Schneider had three children: Ivan, Suzanne and Lucienne. Ivan, born in 1905, became an engineer with the Bonneville Power Administration in Portland, Oregon. Suzanne Bloch, born in 1907, was a musician particularly interested in Renaissance music who taught harpsichord, lute and composition at the Juilliard School in New York. Lucienne Bloch, born in 1909, worked as Diego Rivera's chief photographer on the Rockefeller Center mural project, became friends with Rivera's wife, the artist Frida Kahlo, and took some key photos of Kahlo and the only photographs of Rivera's mural (which was destroyed because Lenin was depicted in it).

Photography

The Western Jewish History Center, of the Judah L. Magnes Museum, in Berkeley, California has a small collection of photographs of Ernest Bloch which document his interest in photography.

Many of the photographs Bloch took -- over 6,000 negatives and 2,000 prints -- are in the Ernest Bloch Archive at the Center for Creative Photography at the University of Arizona in Tucson along with photographs by the likes of Ansel Adams, Edward Weston and Richard Avedon.[1]

Sources

Bloch's photography was discovered by Eric B. Johnson in 1970. Johnson researched, edited and printed many of Bloch's photographs. 40 of these prints from Bloch's negatives are now in the Center for Creative Photography in Tucson AZ along with the entire collection of his negatives and prints. Johnson is currently Professor of Art and Design at Cal Poly State University, San Luis Obispo Ca. An account of his discovery can be found on his website.

http://ericbjohnson.net/Eric_Johnson-Photography_and_Digital_Imagery/Ernest_Bloch.html

Voices in the Wilderness: Six American Neo-Romantic Composers, by Walter Simmons. (Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 2004) ISBN 0-8108-5728-6

Notes and references

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Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (January 2008)
  1. ^ Bloch Festival Program
  2. ^ "Ernest Bloch Project". http://www.ocean18.net/Ernest%20Bloch/Enest%20Bloch%20Project.htm. 

External links


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