Presents
Ernest Bloch
In the Mountains for String Quartet, B.60
Ernest Bloch (1880-1959) was born in the Swiss city of Geneva. He received violin lessons as a child but started composing on his own. He eventually enrolled at the Brussels Conservatory where he studied violin with Eugène Ysaÿe and then later studied composition with Iwan Knorr at the Frankfurt Conservatory. In 1916, he moved to the United States where he remained for the rest of his life. He became a prominent teacher, serving as the first director of the Cleveland Institute of Music and later of the San Francisco Conservatory. Among his many students were George Antheil, Frederick Jacobi, Bernard Rogers, and Roger Sessions.
Bloch's early works show the influence of of Richard Strauss but also of Claude Debussy. Once can hear elements of post-Brahmsian late German romanticism as well as French impressionistic effects works from this period. As time went on, he tended to use Jewish liturgical and folk music for his inspiration. He composed in virtually every genre.
In 1924, while in Cleveland, Bloch wrote the two movement tone poem In the Mountains. The first movement entitled Dusk. It is mostly a quiet, rustling post Impressionist affair. The second movement, Rustic Dance, sounds just like what you might expect a peasant dance to sound like if peasants were dancing to such things in 1924. This is an interesting work suitable for concert performance but it can also be managed by amateurs.
Parts: $24.95
Parts & Score: $31.95
