Ernest Bloch (1880-1959)

Started by vandermolen, April 19, 2007, 04:40:56 AM

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vandermolen

Quote from: M forever on September 25, 2008, 07:37:49 PM
That was with the LaJolla Symphony, about two years ago. The performance was conducted by then music director Harvey Sollberger.

Thanks. What instrument do you play?
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

M forever

Bass.

Quote from: erato on September 26, 2008, 12:16:00 AM
You know the Lojolla sinfonietta by Martinu? It was the work that got me interested i Martinu once upon a time.

I never heard of that. Is there a connection to the city of La Jolla?

The new erato

#42
Quote from: M forever on September 26, 2008, 08:49:07 AM

I never heard of that. Is there a connection to the city of La Jolla?

Commisioned by the Musical Arts Society, La Jolla in 1950, who also (allegedly) recorded it. This info is quoted from a Supraphon LP sleeve I have.

And the name is Sinfonietta La Jolla, got my fingers mixed up in my first post.

vandermolen

I have been listening again to Bloch's epic 51 minute String Quartet No 1 - a truly great score in my opinion. I wonder if anyone else thinks as highly of it as I do.

ps this is the last of my old threads that I will be reviving today!
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

The new erato

Quote from: vandermolen on April 05, 2009, 03:40:30 AM
I have been listening again to Bloch's epic 51 minute String Quartet No 1 - a truly great score in my opinion. I wonder if anyone else thinks as highly of it as I do.

ps this is the last of my old threads that I will be reviving today!
I do. In a post on a Norwegian site I listed this among "10 great quartets you didn't know you needed", to quote my thread title. Definitely one of the supremely great quartets of the last century.

Guido

Quote from: erato on April 05, 2009, 06:53:22 AM
I do. In a post on a Norwegian site I listed this among "10 great quartets you didn't know you needed", to quote my thread title. Definitely one of the supremely great quartets of the last century.

I'd be very interested to hear the others too!
Geologist.

The large print giveth, and the small print taketh away

The new erato

Beethoven op 127
Bartok 5
Haydn op 76/2
Mendelssohn op 80.
Ernst Bloch 1
Schubert kvartett nr 15, D 887
Shostakovich nr 13 op 138.
Hindemith nr 4. 1921.
Hilding Rosenberg 4.
Britten nr 3 op 94.


Guido

Cheers! Lots of these are very mainstream, standard fair though (don't know the last two - will look them out).
Geologist.

The large print giveth, and the small print taketh away

The new erato

Quote from: Guido on April 05, 2009, 09:43:55 AM
Cheers! Lots of these are very mainstream, standard fair though (don't know the last two - will look them out).
Yes - my idea was to present 5 (it was a long post) reasonably wellknown and 5 less well known quartets.

Kullervo

#49
Quote from: vandermolen on April 05, 2009, 03:40:30 AM
I have been listening again to Bloch's epic 51 minute String Quartet No 1 - a truly great score in my opinion. I wonder if anyone else thinks as highly of it as I do.

ps this is the last of my old threads that I will be reviving today!

Thanks for reminding me of this, it's been awhile since I've heard it. It really is a masterpiece!

snyprrr

How many great 50min quartets ARE there? 
This quartet (1916) made a great impression on me.  The Piano Qnt, the Violin Sonatas, Viola suite1919...everything he did 1916-24 all has that mystical searching quality.  Bloch truly had "phases."

I have been sloughing towards trading in the Portland for the Griller.  Both the Arabesque and Laurel recordings have reportedly not the best acoustics, terrible for such "big" music.

There is something very dour indeed about qrts 4-5...I listen to them a lot trying to figure out why I don't like them,...huh?  No.4 comes the closest to a Shosty-ish-ness for me....maybe good to play with some Rosenberg?  I think, IMHO haha, it's generally noted that Bloch's later, slightly harder/drier chamber style lacked the searing mysterical intensity of the 20s (think P Qnt No.2).

The solo violin and viola suites not so much, but looking forward to the cello suites.

To me, Bloch's late style epitomizes what was happening to composers of his generation after the war...a new, "international"(read-U.N.) sound was emerging (Villa-Lobos, Malipiero, Chavez)...their styles seemed to remain the "same", but hardened, overcast.  I sense a grey anonymity in the 50s creeping in...que "nationalism" thread...

Still, what are some "brothers" to Bloch's qrt No.1?  Magnard, Schmitt Qnt, Schoenberg Op7 ???  Ives No.2?  I mean, is the longest quartet up to that time?  or what?

The last 50min quartet I heard was Gorecki No3/KronoZZZzzzzzzzz....oh, excuse me, fell asleezzzz......


Dax

Quote from: snyprrr on April 12, 2009, 08:06:37 PM
How many great 50min quartets ARE there? 

Sorry to be off-topic but Van Dieren 1 and Skalkottas 4 would be candidates.

Lethevich

Quote from: Dax on April 13, 2009, 01:59:24 AM
Sorry to be off-topic but Van Dieren 1 and Skalkottas 4 would be candidates.

Robert Simpson also produced a couple of particularly outlandish ones.
Peanut butter, flour and sugar do not make cookies. They make FIRE.

snyprrr

Is Van Dieren from before 1919?  I don't recall Skalkottas No4 being that long (on BIS???). 
And I guess that's the Simpson No9???-the palindromic/Haydn quartet...but I don't remember any of his others stretching THAT far.

Schoenberg No.1 Op7 comes galloping in around 45min.

and no, I'm not gonna slum for Feldman or LaMonte Young...

I was just really perked by how Bloch sustains the massive canvas.  Still, if you know any more ;D...not to be off topic or anything,heehee...

Dax

Van Dieren 1 is from 1912.

Skalkottas 4 comes in at about 38 minutes in the BIS recording by the New Hellenic Quartet. This recording is a remarkable achievement: apart from anything else, the ambitious tempi do approach those asked for by the composer. This may not be an important approach for some, but with Skalkottas, it really does make a difference. Those familiar with Nikolaos Samaltanos' recording of the32 piano pieces would probably agree.

Anyway . . . back to Bloch.

SonicMan46

Well, I'm a fan of Bloch & Bruch, but have much more of the latter's music - my most recent purchases related to Bloch include:

Schelomo w/ Fournier on a great bargain disc, combined w/ Dvorak's Cello Concerto & Bruch's Kol Nidrei.

Piano Quintet & SQ on the Laurel label mentioned previously - own a couple more discs, but that's about all!

So, please keep the recommendations comin' - the SQ performances by the Griller's have been added to my 'wish list' - thanks.  :)

 

sul G

Quote from: snyprrr on April 12, 2009, 08:06:37 PM
Still, what are some "brothers" to Bloch's qrt No.1?  Magnard, Schmitt Qnt, Schoenberg Op7 ???  Ives No.2?  I mean, is the longest quartet up to that time?  or what?

The longest quartet I know before Feldman's mammoths is, surprisingly, perhaps, Dvorak, his first. It's over 72 minutes long on the recording I have.

Lethevich



This disc (different covers, but the same versions) contains a nice couple of works by Bloch in fine performances. The VC is atmospheric, and on first listen (thanks to the large opening movement) can feel a little gargantuan. It encourages comparison with the imagery of the 1950s Hollywood historical epics with its noticably "exotic" sound, but is a little more esoteric than the soundtracks by Rosza, etc, with an interesting inner logic rather than simply surface effect. Baal Shem is more managable and a nice little piece. The two bonus Serebrier pieces are in a more modern/gloomy idiom, but neither too stylistically extreme or inaccessable.

My one reservation is that I recall the dynamic range being quite large, which might make headphone listening difficult (which you use if I recall correctly?). One solution to this is to get the following disc instead, which I have not heard, but is quite highly rated:

Peanut butter, flour and sugar do not make cookies. They make FIRE.

snyprrr

Dvorak, his first. It's over 72 minutes long on the recording I have.
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I was wondering if "grandma Moses" was in there! ;D

The new erato

Bloch went through so many compositional phases and styles that investigating him widely is exciting - or full of disappointments - depending on where you come from.

I've had this disc recommended - comments anyone? :