Piano Sonata

• Date: 1935
• Composer: Ernest Bloch
• Period: Modern (1910-1949)

Review

Bloch's single Piano Sonata does not break new ground, but proves to be a unique listening experience anyway. Much of Bloch's most effective works tend towards the rhapsodic. However, in this Sonata the composer follows correct form giving the work a structural strength that helps him make his argument.

Composed in 1935, Bloch, as a European Jew, was especially sensitive to the impending horror that the World faced. His Sonata seems to comment on this danger.

In the first movement themes are not just stated, rather they are like prophecies pronounced. One of Bloch's great talents was the ability to write dramatic music without it becoming melodramatic, and he proves that here.

The second movement is a pastorale. The influence of Debussy can be easily discerned in the use of whole tone scales and chords. This is gentle scene painting, a watercolor between two mammoth sculptures.

The third movement is based on a clangorous march. It is grim and unceasing in its forward thrust. This immutable force inevitably reaches a sonorous climax, wherein the prophetic opening motive of the work reappears. The music dies down leaving only a shadow.

Bloch, who was a violinist in his youth, did not write pianistically. There is not a lot of fancy filigree or fingerwork. In fact, the piano writing appears somewhat awkward, although the music demands that texture. The sonorities are almost orchestral, and one wonders if Bloch had ever thought of recasting this work for orchestra.

But any ungraciousness in the piano writing is compensated for in the unbridled emotions of the music.

This Sonata deserves to be heard much more often. It is not only a very personal statement by one of the most interesting composers of the XXth century, but is also an exciting and challenging listening experience. ~ Eric Goldberg, Rovi

Albums with Complete Performances of the Work

Title	Date
Bloch: Piano Works
Ernest Bloch: Visions & Prophecies	2002
Silberstein plays Franck, Bloch and Giannini

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