Ernest Bloch – Symphony in C Sharp Minor, Poems of the Sea [2013 Naxos][FLAC]

Ernest Bloch was a great Jewish composer (who did not convert like most of his contemporaries). He was born in Geneva in 1880 and died in Oregon, in the United States, in 1959. Bloch was a multi-faceted composer, and, in my opinion, was second to none in musical history; he was stylistically versatile, in accordance with the times, the place and the cultural, ethnological or cosmopolitan inspiration that he encountered throughout his life. Because of this a great number of his works have been either forgotten or discarded, even though most of them are masterpieces. The great historical enigma is that only the few works inspired by pure Jewish style have survived and are frequently performed all over the world. It remained in the public memory as the representative feature of Bloch as a composer. One should mention that despite the numerous styles, such as Jewish and Impressionist music, contemporary, serial, universal and even Chinese music, Bloch’s works contain both covert and overt Jewish motifs and scales.

The Symphony in C sharp minor, which lasts approximately an hour, was written when Bloch was merely twenty, while he was studying in Germany. The work embodies the dense complexity of his genius and the vortex of his musical, philosophical and intellectual talents and emotions, a phenomenon that can be observed in the early and late works of other great composers. It is amazing to find a similar pattern in Bloch’s first Symphony in C sharp minor and his last Symphony in E flat (1955) in the contemporary style.

Bloch wrote two versions of Poems of the Sea in 1922, one for piano, and the other for a large orchestra. The style is clear and pleasing, and includes Irish tunes and jigs, as well as the sound of ripples and of waves crashing onto rocks, all of which were inspired by Walt Whitman’s poems about the sea.

Track List
Symphony in C-Sharp Minor
1. I. Lento – Allegro agitato ma molto energico 00:22:03
2. II. Andante molto moderato 00:11:11
3. III. Vivace 00:10:18
4. IV. Allegro energico e molto marcato 00:11:02
Poems of the Sea (version for orchestra)
5. I. Waves: Poco agitato 00:04:25
6. II. Chanty: Andante misterioso 00:03:24
7. III. At Sea: Allegro vivo 00:05:43

Dalia Atlas, London Symphony Orchestra

FLAC

https://mega.co.nz/#!mF8TVZxI!MqtLqQerisYw7t8X_CkXBlrjqm0w3_ceROiJovz H_lg