Ernest Bloch; André Caplet; Maurice Ravel - Music for Cello & Orchestra (Raphael Wallfisch)

Information

Composer: Ernest Bloch; André Caplet; Maurice Ravel

• Bloch - Voice in the Wilderness
• Caplet - Epiphanie (d'apres une légende éthiopienne)
• Ravel - Mélodie hébraïque, Kaddisch
• Bloch - Schelomo. Rhapsodie hébraïque

Raphael Wallfisch, cello

BBC National Orchestra of Wales

Benjamin Wallfisch, conductor

Date: 2014

Label: Nimbus

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Review

There are few composers of such profound sincerity and absorbing interest as Ernest Bloch. He said that he had no desire to archive the music of the Jews but that the intention in his own music was to capture the Hebrew spirit in ‘the complex, ardent, agitated soul that vibrates in the Bible’.

In Schelomo, the Hebrew word for Solomon, the cellist Raphael Wallfisch communicates the sombre message of the great king in the book of Ecclesiastes, that ‘all is vanity’. Bloch’s Schelomo is by turns devotional, majestic, introspective and dramatic, and the cellist captures all these facets in an astonishing portrait. The orchestra are in fine form under the soloist’s son, who keeps a clear head in a complex score, ensuring that every detail is in focus, the climaxes awesome.

The symphonic poem Voice in the Wilderness has no biblical link though the title suggests a kinship; likewise the modal idiom of Middle Eastern music and the calling of the shofar (ram’s horn) in the orchestration. There are six meditations, in which the cello takes the role of commentator on the preceding music, as it journeys from world-weariness to ‘the victory of the spirit’, with father and son perfectly partnering each other as they traverse the emotional contours of this strangely moving piece.

The delicate imagery of Epiphanie by André Caplet is a fine contrast to the Bloch pieces. It depicts the arrival of the black king Caspar to honour ‘the King of the world’. The French composer creates a fascinating oriental sound world that the cello first embroiders, then dominates, taking the central role in a long cadenza over a drum-beat in the middle movement, before an exotic final dance for the king’s young retainers. The musical narrative is realised in a beautiful performance. Ravel’s Kaddisch, his deeply felt homage to Jewish music, carries an authentic ring and completes this memorable recording which is dedicated to the many members of the Wallfisch family who perished in the Holocaust.

— Adrian Edwards

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Ernest Bloch (July 24, 1880 – July 15, 1959) was a Swiss-born American composer known for blending post-Romantic and neoclassical styles with Jewish musical themes. He studied in Switzerland and Belgium, taught at the Geneva Conservatory, and moved to the U.S. in 1916. Bloch became the first director of the Cleveland Institute of Music and later led the San Francisco Conservatory. He taught at UC Berkeley until retiring in 1952. Bloch's compositions, influenced by Debussy, Mahler, and Ravel, include Schelomo, Baal Shem, Avodath Hakodesh, Concerto Grosso No. 1, and Israel Symphony, among others.

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André Caplet (23 November 1878 – 22 April 1925) was a French composer and conductor. He studied at the Paris Conservatory, winning the Prix de Rome in 1901. Caplet composed vocal and chamber music, incorporating instruments like the saxophone in early works. During World War I, he served in the French army and afterward focused solely on composition, creating several religious pieces. A close friend of Claude Debussy, Caplet orchestrated and collaborated on several of Debussy's works, including Le Martyre de saint Sébastien and Children's Corner, with the latter being among his most recognized contributions.

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Maurice Ravel (7 March 1875 – 28 December 1937) was a French composer, pianist and conductor. He is often associated with Impressionism along with his elder contemporary Claude Debussy. Born to a music-loving family, Ravel attended the Paris Conservatoire. After leaving the conservatoire, he found his own way as a composer, developing a style of great clarity and incorporating elements of modernism, baroque, neoclassicism and, in his later works, jazz. Among his works to enter the repertoire are pieces for piano, chamber music, two piano concertos, ballet music, two operas and eight song cycles.

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Raphael Wallfisch (born 1953 in London) is an English cellist whose career took off after winning the Gaspar Cassadó Competition at age 24. He has performed with major orchestras worldwide and worked with leading conductors, building a vast discography with labels like Chandos, CPO and Naxos. Known for championing British and lesser-known repertoire, he has premiered works by many contemporary composers. Wallfisch is also a respected educator, serving as Professor at the Royal College of Music and Trinity Laban Conservatoire, and frequently sits on international competition juries. He plays a 1733 Montagnana cello.

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