Ernest Bloch - Symphony in E flat major; Three Jewish Poems (Dalia Atlas)

Information

Composer: Ernest Bloch

• Macbeth, opera: Interludes
• Three Jewish Poems
• In Memoriam
• Symphony in E flat major

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

Dalia Atlas, conductor

Date: 1996

Label: ASV

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Review

First, an alert to film buffs. Anyone schooled in the stylistic manners of Korngold, Steiner or Alfred Newman will likely gravitate to the Act 1 and Act 3 Interludes of Bloch’s only opera, Macbeth (1910). True, the writing recalls the Richard Strauss of the period (not to mention the teenage Korngold’s recent triumphs), but premonitions of film-scores-to-come are more vivid still – both in terms of orchestration and in the evocative harmonic-melodic slant of Bloch’s ideas. How strange that contemporary critics spoke of “barbaric” music, “an indecipherable rebus”, “noise for the sake of noise” – the sort of vapid invective one normally associates with early Stravinsky or Prokofiev.

This big, extravagant orchestral writing is equally apparent in the Three Jewish Poems (1913), music that Bloch himself premiered with the Boston Symphony and that – 6'59'' into the “Cortege funebre” third movement – hints at yet another Hollywood master, John Williams this time, and Close Encounters in particular. The first piece is cast in modal dress and recalls similar compositions by Enescu: solo strings and woodwinds are gainfully employed throughout (both Schelomo and the Violin Concerto come to mind), but it is the fulsome profile of Bloch’s big tutti that lingers longest in the memory.

By contrast, the relatively late miniature In Memoriam (1952, completed on Christmas Eve in memory of the pianist Ada Clement) is serenely simple: the hymn-like nature of much of the piece is reminiscent of Nielsen, and the scoring is refreshingly economical. The E flat Symphony (1954-5) is again leaner, drier, more thematically economical (a handful of motifs come and go like familiar signposts) and more rhythmically driven than the earlier pieces, though both the opening and closing sections of the work conjure up a mood of sad tranquillity and the brief Andante slow movement is perhaps the most beautiful music on the CD.

Dalia Atlas Sternberg and the RPO ride the vast tonal waves of Macbeth and the Jewish Poems with only a few rocky moments (mostly concerning ensemble) to worry perfectionists, while the In Memoriam and the Symphony are sensitively handled by all concerned. I note that Atlas Sternberg plans to record more Bloch, and if this particular programme is anything to go by, future instalments should generate much enthusiasm among lovers of late-romantic repertoire. Brian Culverhouse’s recording employs the generous acoustic of St Barnabas Church, Finchley to fine effect.

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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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Dalia Atlas (born 14 November 1933 in Haifa) is an Israeli conductor. She studied in Jerusalem and abroad, and was first woman who won seven major international conducting competitions. Afterwards she returned to Israel and founded two touring orchestras to promote music nationwide for 28 years. At the Technion in Haifa, she led multiple music initiatives to inspire future scientists. Atlas has conducted around 72 orchestras globally, including the Philadelphia Orchestra and the London Symphony, and has a vast repertoire of about 750 works. Since 1996, she has focused on reviving Ernest Bloch's neglected music.

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