A Brief History and Analysis of Ernest Bloch's Schelomo

by Tracie D. Price
Introduction

At the tender age of ten, Ernest Bloch wrote a vow that he would become a composer. He then built a mound of stones
in the shape of an altar and burned the paper over the stones in ritual fashion. Before age 15, he made good on his vow,
having composed both a string quartet and an Oriental Symphony. However, it was with the composition of his epic
Schelomo: Rhapsody for Violoncello and Large Orchestra, that he proved to the world that he had indeed become a
composer of world class ability. After a performance in November of 1923, the San Francisco Chronicle review
affirmed the accomplishment, reporting: "Schelomo is a magnificent work by one of the greatest living composers.
Splendid as it is in brilliant coloration, it is not in the vivid pictures that its greatness lies so much, as in the burning
sincerity, the richness of passion, the poignant spirituality and the profound penetration into the psychology of a race." 1

This paper will examine the genesis and composition, as well as provide an analysis of the style, form and content, of
one of Ernest Bloch's greatest masterworks, Schelomo. It will include a discussion of what elements constitute the
characteristics of Bloch's Jewish Cycle and how these characteristics are manifested in the work.

***

Ernest Bloch was born July 24, 1880, in Geneva, Switzerland, to a clockmaker and his wife. He began his musical
studies on the violin, but had desires to become a composer. His music professors included such luminaries as Jaques-
Dalcroze in Geneva and Eugene Ysaÿe and Fran ois Rasse at the Brussels Conservatory. He also spent a year each at
the Frankfurt Conservatory under Ivan Knorr and in Munich studying with Ludwig Thuille. During his early period, he
worked in Paris, where he wrote his first published work, Historiettes au Crépuscule, for voice and piano in 1903. By
1909 he had completed his opera Macbeth, as well as two tone poems and four songs. Bloch spent 1909-10 conducting
orchestral concerts at Lausanne and Neuchâtel, and became professor of composition and aesthetics at the Geneva
Conservatory in 1915, a position that was ended when he made his first trip to America in 1916 as a conductor for
Maud Allen's dance troupe. He taught at the Mannes School of Music in New York from 1917-1920, and served as the
first director of the Cleveland Institute of Music until 1925, becoming a United States citizen in 1924. Following this,
he headed the San Francisco Conservatory for five years.

In the 1930's, Bloch lived in Switzerland and conducted in various European cities, returning to the United States in
1939 due to a desire to retain his U.S. citizenship. He settled in Agate Beach, Oregon, where he lived the remainder of
his life. Bloch spent summers teaching at the University of California at Berkeley until his retirement in 1952. In July
of 1959, Ernest Bloch succumbed to cancer and passed away.

The Jewish Cycle

Ernest Bloch's creative output can be divided into several distinct periods, including his early period, which is
comprised of the works he composed in Geneva, his so-called "Jewish Cycle" from 1911-1926, and his later period
after 1927 when he wrote much in the neo-classic style. His early compositions were considered somewhat
undisciplined and it was not until his Jewish Cycle that Bloch achieved his own distinct musical identity. "By 1912
Bloch began to recognize what he at first took to be an Oriental flavor in his music as having its roots in his own Jewish
race; and, caught up by the spirit of the Jewish Renaissance in Europe prior to World War I, he apparently determined
to let this quality have full opportunity of expression in his art." 2 Bloch's Jewish works constitute less than one-fifth of
his entire output, yet it is by these works that he is almost exclusively known, and upon which his reputation is based.
The music from this period has tremendous force of expression and its richly variegated coloring and exotic harmonies
are overlaid with deeply spiritual significance. It was these works "which firmly established Bloch as a great composer,
admired by both Jew and Gentile." 3

In 1920, the Italian essayist Guido M. Gatti confirmed the consensus that Bloch's compositional abilities had indeed
reached a pinnacle with the greatest masterwork of this period, Schelomo. In an article on Ernest Bloch for La Critica
Musicale, Gatti writes:

"Bloch has reached the perfection of his music with the Hebrew rhapsody for solo violoncello with orchestra,
which bears the name of the great king Schelomo (Solomon). In this, without taking thought for development and
formal consistency, without the fetters of a text requiring interpretation, he has given free course to his fancy; the
multiplex figure of the founder of the Great Temple lent itself, after setting it upon a loft throne and chiseling its
lineaments, to the creation of a phantasmagorical entourage of persons and scenes in rapid and kaleidoscopic
 succession. The violoncello, with its ample breadth of phrasing, now melodic and with moments of superb
lyricism, now declamatory and with robustly dramatic lights and shades, lends itself to a reincarnation of
Solomon in all his glory, surrounded by his thousand wives and concubines, with his multitute of slaves and
warriors behind him. His voice resounds in the devotional silence, and the sentences of his wisdom sink into the
hearts as the seed into a fertile soil: 'Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, all is vanity...." --The orchestra
palpitates in all the colors of the rainbow; from the vigorous and transparent orchestration there emerge waves of
sound that seem to soar upward in stupendous vortices and fall back in a shower of myriads of iridescent drops.
At times the sonorous voice of the violoncello is heard predominant amid a breathless and fateful obscurity
throbbing with persistent rhythms; again, it blends in a phantasmagorical paroxysm of polychromatic tones shot
through with silvery clangors and frenzies of exultation. And anon one finds oneself in the heart of a dream-
world, in an Orient of fancy, where men and women of every race and tongue are holding argument or hurling
maledictions; and now and again we hear the mournful accents of the prophetic seer, under the influence of
which all bow down and listen reverently.... The violoncello part is of so remarkably convincing and emotional
power that it may be set down as a veritable masterpiece; not one passage, not a single beat, is inexpressive; the
entire discourse of the soloist, vocal rather than instrumental, seems like musical expression intimately conjoined
with the Talmudic prose. The pauses, the repetitions of entire passages, the leaps of a double octave, the
chromatic progressions, all find their analogues in the Book of Genesis-in the versicles, in the fairly epigraphic
reiteration of the admonitions ('and all is vanity and vexation of spirit'), in the unexpected shifts from one thought
to another, in certain crescendi of emotion that end in explosions of anger or grief uncontrolled." 4

Even though the title Jewish Cycle has been attached to this period of Bloch's creative output, Bloch did not generally
write music based on specific Jewish melodies but rather as an expression of feelings that he experienced as a result of
his Jewish heritage and his study of passages in the Bible. As a result, there has been some controversy over the
labeling of Bloch as a "Jewish composer" based on these works. Bloch himself addressed this topic sereral times during
his life, saying on one occasion:

"In my work termed 'Jewish' -- my Psalms, Schelomo, Israel, Three Jewish Poems, Baal Shem, pieces for the
cello, The Sacred Service, The Voice in the Wilderness -- I have not approached the problem from without -- by
employing melodies more or less authentic (frequently borrowed from or under the influence of other nations) or
"Oriental" formulae, rhythms or intervals, more or less sacred! No! I have but listened to an inner voice, deep,
secret, insistent, ardent, an instinct much more than cold and dry reason, a voice which seemed to come from far
beyond myself, far beyond my parents...a voice which surged up in me on reading certain passages in the Bible,
Job, Ecclesiastes, the Psalms, the Prophets.... It was this entire Jewish heritage that moved me deeply, and was
reborn in my music. To what extent it is Jewish, to what extent it is just Ernest Bloch, of that I know nothing. The
future alone will decide." 5

Exactly what constitutes Jewishness in Bloch's music has been the source of much speculation, despite statements such
as this. In his writing can be found numerous examples of augmented seconds and fourths, which are characteristic of
Near-Eastern scales and there are modal tonalities and melismatic melodies that are similar to Hebrew chant, although
literal quotations are rare. There are various examples from Bloch's instrumental works that bear a close resemblance to
Jewish song. However, many authorities, such as Alfred Einstein and A.Z. Idelsohn, "feel that Bloch belongs to that
group of composers who have recreated their people's music out of themselves. He is Jewish...in the same sense that
Debussy was French, Sibelius Finnish, or Bartôk Hungarian, and in that sense he may be identified with a kind of
Hebrew Nationalism." 6

There are a number of common characteristics evident in the works of Bloch's Jewish Cycle; these are outlined in Table
1. The employment of many of these techniques as they specifically relate to Schelomo will be discussed in the section
on analysis of the work.

TABLE 1: Characteristics of Ernest Bloch's Jewish Cycle Works

Melodic Characteristics

Many fourths and fifths

Augmented seconds
Quarter tones
Close relationship with Jewish Song
Melismatic formations
Irregular phrasing
Cross relations
Modal flavor

Rhythmic Characteristics
 Motifs derived from Hebrew language
"Bloch Rhythm" (Scotch-snap)
Frequently changing meters/tempo
Repeated passages feature decreasing note values
Solo "vocal" lines utilize rhythmic freedom

Harmonic/Textural Characteristics

Contrapuntal texture
Parallel fourths and fifths
Parallel six-four chords
Unresolved dissonances
Chords built on fourths and fifths
Use of simple triads for expressive purposes
Unison voicing for emphasis

Melodically, Bloch had a knowledge of Synagogical chant and motives of Jewish folk tunes, although, as previously
stated, he rarely employed direct quotations from these. His melodies are often constructed with an abundance of
fourths, fifths and augmented intervals. He also occasionally employed the use of quarter tones. His use of these
intervals was not, as with many of his contemporaries, to explore new tonalities, but simply as a means of expression.

Bloch's rhythmic patterns often mimic spoken Hebrew. For example, in Hebrew there is a tendency to place the accent
towards the last syllable of the word. In his vocal works, he employs frequently changing meters and strong accents in
order to be faithful to the texts. When he uses these techniques in instrumental works, he is actually thinking in terms of
Jewish song. The frequently appearing "Bloch rhythm" can be derived from many Hebrew words such as "Le-cho
(sixteenth--dotted eighth) and Shema (thirty-second--dotted eighth)." 7 One expert on Jewish music sees Bloch's
phrases as containing a veering of the climax toward the ending, which he sees as paralleling the linguistic phrase of
spoken Hebrew. Often in his instrumental works, Bloch will apply this by writing repeated and sequential motives that
decrease in note values until the maximum intensity is reached.

Harmonically, Bloch does not avoid use of traditional harmonies, however, he also does not seem to be bound by rules
that would hamper his freedom of expression. His works are replete with unresolved dissonances and parallel fourths
and fifths. One of the marks of his brilliance is his use of simple triadic formations when he wishes to make the most
profound expression. He often uses simple six-four chords in close position to create an exotic effect. Harmonically
Bloch's music stands as a bridge between the old and the new. He often expressed his belief that music should evolve
organically, not through artificial creation. Regarding his compositional techniques he commented: "Art, for me, is an
expression, an experience of life, and not a puzzle game -- or an icy demonstration of imposed mathematical principles
-- or dissection in a laboratory. I would add that in not one of my works have I tried to be 'original' or 'modern.'
Theories, like 'novelty,' pass so quickly. And what remains? In revenge, my sole desire and single effort has been to
remain faithful to my Vision, to the True." 8

Schelomo

Following the outbreak of World War I in 1914, Bloch became increasingly concerned regarding the misery of the war.
During this time, he was particularly moved by the Biblical book of Ecclesiastes, and began sketches for a work for
voice and orchestra based on the book as an outlet for his feelings regarding the pain of war. The following text which
served as inspiration for what was to become Schelomo, is an excerpt from Ecclesiastes as presented by Avraham
Soltes in his book Off the Willows: The Rebirth of Modern Jewish Music:

"Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.

What profit hath man of all his labor
Wherein he laboreth under the sun?
One generation passeth away and another generation cometh;
And the earth abideth forever.
The sun also ariseth,
And the sun goeth down,
And hasteth to his place where he ariseth.
The wind goeth toward the south,
And turneth about unto the north;
It turneth about continually in its circuit.
And the wind returneth again to its circuits.
All the rivers run into the sea,
 Yet the sea is not full;
Unto the place whither the rivers go,
thither they go again.
All things toil to weariness:
Man cannot utter it.
The eye is not satisfied with seeing,
Nor the ear filled with hearing.
That which hath been
Is that which shall be,
And that which hath been done
Is that which shall be done;
And there is nothing new under the sun.

(Ecclesiastes 1:2-9)" 9

In 1933, Bloch wrote program notes for a performance of Schelomo by the Augusteo Orchestra of Rome in which he
related the circumstances and inspiration that resulted in the composition of the work.

"This is the story of Schelomo. Towards the end of 1915 I was in Geneva. For years I had been sketching a
musical setting of the Book of Ecclesiastes, but neither French, German, nor English suited my purpose and I did
not know enough Hebrew. Consequently the sketches accumulated-and slept. One day I met the cellist Alexander
Barjansky and his wife. I heard Barjansky play and immediately became his friend. I played him my manuscript
works-the Jewish Poems, the Israel Symphony, and the Psalms -- all of which were then unpublished and had
failed to arouse anyone's interest. The Barjanskys were profoundly moved. While I played, Mme. Barjansky, who
had borrowed a pencil and a piece of paper, sketched a little statue -- her 'sculptural thanks,' as she put it. At last,
in my terrible loneliness, I had found true, warm friends. My hopes revived and I began to think about writing a
work for that marvelous cellist. Why not use my Ecclesiastes material, but instead of a human voice, limited by a
text, employ an infinitely grander and more profound voice that could speak all languages -- that of his
violoncello? I took up my sketches , and without plan or program, almost without knowing where I was headed, I
worked for days on my rhapsody. As each section was completed, I copied the solo part and Barjansky studied it.
At the same time Mme. Barjansky worked on the statuette intended as a gift for me. She had first thought of
sculpting a Christ, but later decided on a King Solomon. We both finished at about the same time. In a few weeks
my Ecclesiastes was completed, and since the legend attributes this book to King Solomon, I gave it the title
Schelomo.

"As will be seen, I had no descriptive intentions. I was saturated with the Biblical text and, above all, with the
misery of the world, for which I have always had so much compassion." 10

As much as Bloch asserted that the work had no definite program, he did follow the above statement with a
commentary he called a "psychoanalysis" of the work. He stated that the violoncello is the voice of Solomon, the
rhapsodist of Ecclesiastes, proclaiming the usefulness in all things, while the orchestra "represents the world
surrounding him and his experiences of life; at the same time, the orchestra often seems to reflect Solomon's inward
thought while the solo instrument is giving voice to his words." 11

***

Schelomo is a rhapsody in three large sections, each of these containing a powerful orchestral climax. The work
combines the concerto principle of a contrasting solo instrument with orchestra with the concept of the symphonic
poem. Although rhapsodic in nature, the piece is based on a solidly conceived formal structure. "In three parts-slow,
fast and slow-there are two principal themes which dominate the entire composition, the first as the main subject of part
one, the second as the main subject of part two. The third part is a slow development and recapitulation of the
preceding material." 12 A brief outline of this structure including excerpts of the main themes of each section is
presented in table 2.

TABLE 2: Schelomo: Basic Structural Outline

First Section- slow tempo

Themes:

Example 1a
 Example 1b

Example 1c

Second Section: fast tempo

New Theme:
Example 2

Third Section: slow tempo

Development and Recapitulation

The first section of the Rhapsody opens with a lengthy cello cadenza, which represents the voice of Solomon himself.
According to Bloch, it is as though ". . . Schelomo himself were telling us what has led him to his sad conclusions. . . ."
The opening theme is in three sections (Examples 1a, 1b, and 1c respectively in Table 2). The first section (Example
1a) is a melismatic lament lasting five bars accompanied by sparsely orchestrated descending chords moving in parallel
motion with the solo cello. This leads into a more metered section of seven bars marked pi animato - con somme
espressione (Example 1b) which evolves into a descending line of sixteenth and thirty-second notes that increase in
power and tension as they descend over a range of three octaves and evolve into a dotted thirty-second and sixty-fourth
note rhythm in the final measure; this passage contains examples of augmented seconds and is highly chromatic.
Following this is another cello cadenza (Example 1c), this one unaccompanied, beginning in the low register, and
containing several dramatic pauses before finally climbing out of the depths of the low range by means of a sequence of
triplets that ascends the distance of an octave with each statement. The passage reaches a high point on a D, three
octaves above where it begins, and then falls back down in anguish; the final statement of the triplet sequential figure
being one of utter despair and hopelessness.

The full orchestra enters at the andante moderato following the cello cadenza with themes that have just been
presented. Here can be found examples of Bloch's use of parallel six-four chords in the celeste, harp, and three soli
violins, enhancing the viola melody with an even more exotic atmosphere. The cello takes up this theme and alters it
considerably against a tambourine figure that foreshadows the theme from the second major section of the rhapsody.
The woodwinds then take up Theme One in parallel fourths while the strings adopt the rhythmic tambourine figure.
This section excellently demonstrates one of Bloch's most colorful devices. It is a kind of organum-passages of parallel
octaves containing the bare fifth and fourth, which Bloch often adapts in his works either as an integral part of thematic
material or its development, or as accompanying counterpoint. In this section he uses it in both respects, with the main
theme in the woodwinds, and accompanimental figures in the strings, harp and flutes also using open fifths. Bloch's
characteristic "Scotch-snap" rhythm, a melodic sixteenth and dotted eighth note figure, is introduced two bars later by
the cello and English horn in unison. Bloch then takes the melodic material presented thus far and breaks it into smaller
and smaller units and develops it, played by sections of the orchestra against rhapsodic passages of scales and
arpeggiated figures in the solo cello. The orchestra answers the increasingly emphatic cello with a thickly orchestrated
statement of the viola melody from the beginning of the andante moderato which features parallel fourths, flourishing
scalar passages, col legno effects in the strings, diminishing note values for emphasis, and bold brass statements. The
agitated orchestra calms again as the cello ascends out of the din to restate the opening cadenza of the rhapsody in an
altered form against a sparse string accompaniment. Other instruments join in with fragments of the various themes as
the cello continues and increases in volume and tempo. All this activity comes to a dramatic halt with the cello freely
making an impassioned plea against the shimmering tremolo of the strings and flutes, culminating in yet another
cadenza-like passage which ends with a dramatic upward leap of a minor ninth followed by a two octave downward
jump to a fermata, where the intensity is finally allowed to relax. The texture starts thinly with a sparse viola
accompaniment, and gradually begins to thicken as more and more instruments join in and add intensity to the
increasing tempo. The cello finishes with a statement of the second part of Theme One (Example 1b) as the orchestra
takes over, bringing the music to a wild climax of complex layerings of themes, rhythmic figures, and exotic
orchestration. There are fanfares of parallel fifths, octave doublings, decreasing note values on repeated material, and
changing meters and tempi. This section ends with a dramatic statement of the material from the last cello cadenza by
flutes, oboe, clarinet, and violins, supported by a powerful unison accompaniment in the low winds, low brass and low
strings, and pulsating sixteenth notes in the horns. Particularly interesting is a line of ascending quarter notes in parallel
diminished seventh chords by the low winds, brass and strings, during the climactic statement of the passage. The
orchestral climax finishes with four bars of parallel fifths leading into four bars that are marked Quasi una Cadenza
(ma in tempo), which are a wild collage of thirty-second note and sixteenth note flourishes. This orchestra cadenza
leads directly into yet another solo cello cadenza, this one being restatement of the cello cadenza material from
Example 1c, which now provides the bridge to the second section of the rhapsody.

"Theme Two (Example 2) at allegro moderato is announced by the bassoon playing the rhythmic figure heard earlier in
part one, this time against a rustling of tremulant violins on the bare fifth E-B." 13 The theme is stated in its entirety a
few bars later by the oboe. This theme consists of a rhythmic melody of seven measures followed by a pi animato
passage of diatonically moving quarter and half notes. This theme is also the only genuine Jewish melody used in the
rhapsody. It is based on a South German Jewish melody, Kodosh Attoh (Holy art Thou) that Bloch remembers being
sung to him by his father when he was young. Immediately following the oboe, the cello repeats the second cadenza of
Theme One (Example 1b), and at the same time, Theme Two is played against it in parallel fourths as a counter melody
in the woodwinds. The solo cello only states the militaristic second theme a single time during the entire rhapsody,
which is significant when one considers Bloch's regular use of the various themes as motivic building blocks. After the
cello states this theme, which is quite agitated and played a step lower than that of the oboe, it embarks upon a lengthy
restatement of the opening cadenza theme (1a). This section is remarkable in that the orchestra develops the rhythmic
second theme as if preparing for war, while the voice of Solomon freely laments over the top of all that is happening.
The cello writing is rhythmically indefinite, often notated with eighth note quintuplets against the driving rhythms
below.
In this passage, it is very much as if the voice of the cello is trying desperately to persuade the rallying orchestra not to
continue along its current path, but the orchestra will not heed the cello's cries. The orchestra only grows in intensity,
with the low strings and low winds even bringing in material from the last section of the opening cadenza (Theme 1c).
The cello continues its empathic restatement of Theme One, building to a tremendous climax, but it is in vain and the
frantic sound of the solo instrument is overpowered by the ever increasing sound and texture of the orchestra. The
second orchestral climax of the rhapsody follows, this one characterized by a complex layering of all the motivic
fragments of both main themes. The strings, with the exception of the contrabass, along with the flute keep the music
driving forward and intensifying by furiously pounding out Theme 1b, rising chromatically one half step each half
measure. Along with this, the brass and contrabasses cry out the second portion of theme two. The music builds to a
high point only to come crashing downward using the melismatic sixteenth and thirty-second note passage from the
opening cadenza. However, just when one thinks the music will start to calm down, the winds enter with the piercing
second theme and stir things up yet again. Once more, Bloch layers the second theme with Theme 1c, building over
three bars until the entire orchestra unifies in one massive statement of the last part of Theme 1c. Only now do things
finally begin to calm, as the orchestration thins out and the two themes alternate in the transition to part three of the
rhapsody.

The third part of the composition is marked andante moderato and does not employ any new thematic material.
However, it does cast a new light on the previously introduced material. From the outset, there is a remnant of the
martial second theme, now played softly by timpani underneath a tremolo and open fifths in the strings. The solo cello
writing in this section is extremely somber and it is here that Bloch employs a single quarter tone in his writing:
The lament of the cello is continued until it sinks into a mood of hopelessness on a low C# fermata and finally comes to
rest, dejectedly, on a low D.

The orchestra enters peacefully with a shimmering sixteenth-note accompaniment supporting a dolce statement of the
melody from the first section that seems to draw the lamenting Solomon out of his hopeless state into a more dreamlike
world. The second theme can still be heard in the distance in the oboe, but overall there is an air of peace. The cello
seems to be off in its own private world, dreaming of better things as it ascends into the stratosphere of its range in an
irregular rhythm.

This dreamlike state does not last for long, as the cello once more falls nearly three octaves and is brought back to earth
and reality. After several episodes recalling the previous themes, the final orchestral climax is reached. This one is
much simpler in texture, but otherwise still on a grand scale. The fantasies of a better world that began the third section
fail to raise Solomon's spirits, and the rhapsody closes in a mood of profound despair. The climax retreats into a
subdued, yet somewhat tense atmosphere of tremolo strings and descending cello and bass pizzicati as the solo cello
makes it's final sorrowful statement with one last tirade of the theme one cadenza: "Vanity of vanities! Nothing!" Bloch
said regarding the ending of this work, "Almost all my works, however gloomy, end with an optimistic conclusion or at
least with hope: This is the only one which ends with an absolute negation. But the subject required it."

***

Ernest Bloch was a composer who placed expression above everything else, and he never hesitated to use any device
which suited his artistic purpose. While he employed elements that reached beyond traditional practices of the time-
parallel voicing, unresolved dissonances, exotic scales and intervals, he did so with the greatest concern for the musical
results, and only after first mastering the classical approach. Many writers described Bloch's style or form as
"Rhapsodic" rather than "Symphonic," dependent upon cyclical principals for unity, and inclined to let fully developed
melodic formations take the place of gradual thematic evolution. However, Bloch even in his great Hebraic Rhapsody,
still employs elements of classical sonata form with its contrasting first and second subjects, developmental sections,
recapitulation, and coda. One writer commented regarding Schelomo, "...for never did a rhapsodist bring to his
composing a profounder understanding of classical techniques or a more urgent desire to apply them in the struggle for
perfection in his works. Schelomo is a magnificent rhapsody, yet one very real reason for its being so is that its unusual
structure is most rigidly controlled. Hardly a bar could be lifted from it without seriously damaging the form....Thus it
will be seen that the romantic element in Bloch has always been contained by the strong discipline of classical
craftsmanship." 14 Bloch himself commented regarding what inspired him to compose: "I hold it of first importance to
write good, genuine music, my music. It is the Jewish soul that interests me, the complex glowing agitated soul that I
feel vibrating throughout the Bible; the freshness and naivete of the patriarchs; the violence which is evident in the
prophetical books; the Jew's savage love of justice; the despair of the preacher in Jerusalem; the sorrow and immensity
of the Book of Job; the sensuality of the Song of Songs. All this is in us, all this is in me, and it is the better part of me.
It is all that I endeavor to hear in myself and to transcribe in my music." 15 Certainly, with the creation of his Hebraic
Rhapsody, Schelomo, he achieved his goal.

Footnotes

[1] Ernest Bloch: Biography and Comment. Mary Morgan Company, 1925.
[2] Henrichs, William Lee. "The Music of Ernest Bloch: A Critical Survey." Master's Thesis, Texas Christian
University, 1958.
[3] Ibid.
[4] Gatti, Guido M. "Ernest Bloch." The Musical Quarterly 7, no. 1 (January 1921): 20-38.
[5] Henrichs, William Lee. "The Music of Ernest Bloch: . . ."
[6] Ibid.
[7] Ibid.
[8] Ibid.
[9] Soltes, Avraham. Off the Willows: The Rebirth of Modern Jewish Music. New York: Bloch Publishing Company,
1970.
[10] San Francisco Symphony Orchestra Program Notes. 1955-56
[11] Ibid.
[12] Henrichs, William Lee. "The Music of Ernest Bloch: . . ."
[13] Ibid.
[14] Ibid.
[15] Gilman, Lawrence. Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra Program Notes. October 1954-May 1957.

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