‘Ernest Bloch has always seemed to me to be one of the Seven Wonders. Like Hercules, a world of ecstasy, of pain rested on his shoulders. He also seemed at one with the great vistas and jagged peaks of the Swiss Alps, against which he loved to photograph himself (he was a superb photographer, one of the first generation of Leica fanatics!), as at Agate Beach, with the pounding Pacific breakers. He was cast by the gods in a superhuman mold — a prophetic scale of size and vision, of strength and vitality which exceeded the common mortals.’ — Yehudi Menuhin
Bloch received acclaim, prizes and honours during his lifetime and his music was performed regularly. Legendary cellist Pablo Casals wrote: ‘For me, the greatest composer of our time is Ernest Bloch.’ Composer Alfredo Casella stated, ‘his art is one of grandeur and majesty which sometimes recalls the Moses of Michelangelo’. In recent years, major orchestras and world-renowned soloists have been performing and recording many of Bloch’s best-known works.
His Photography
Ernest Bloch and Alfred Stieglitz: Photography and the Soul
by Eric B Johnson
…Bloch saw these photographs in Stieglitz’s gallery in May or June 1922. This well-known episode was an affirmation for Stieglitz that photography, like music, can express the human soul. This account by Stieglitz has become a widely accepted event in the annals of photography. Bloch did not write a symphony called “Clouds,” as Stieglitz recounted, but did write evocative pieces for the piano in 1922-23 including…
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his anniversaries
This year’s anniversaries
1926/2026: Four Episodes for chamber orchestra
1927/2027: America: Epic Rhapsody for orchestra and chorus
1928/2028: Abodah: God’s Worship, A Yom Kippur Melody for violin and piano
1929/2029: Helvetia: The Land of Mountains and Its People: Symphonic Fresco for orchestra and chorus
1930/2030: Began composing Avodath Hakodesh (Sacred Service) — completed in 1933
2030: 150th Anniversary of Bloch’s Birth — the Sesquicentennial – Bloch 150
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