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Riverside radio presents the 12th in a series of 15 programs. Ernest Bloch the man and his music the commentator for these programs is the composer's daughter. Suzanne block this block is a well-known authority on early music a lecture and a member of the faculty at The Juilliard School. In this series she provides illuminating details about her father's life and work and gives intriguing insights into the background of his compositions. On this week's program you'll hear a performance of The Piano Sonata with his by now dash soloist and the string quartet number three with the Edinburg string quartet. And here to introduce our program is the composer's daughter Suzanne block the Piano Sonata was written in 1935 Proudlock lived in the Swiss Italian Alps in the little hamlet of rather I don't know how high up above the town of began Oh this is the first work written after I spent three years in his Secret Service. He had come to America in 1934 to conduct the Secret Service in New York and returned to his mountains to recuperate from the active life yet spent also to lick his wounds. Something was a custom to do the Secret Service had been received with mixed
reactions for to not being Jewish enough for many expected to another Shalom. It had been modern enough for the ones expected something like the piano quintet. Perhaps I'd heard it more than anything else had been the harsh article by his old friend Paul Rosenfeld who 1916 had enthusiast tickly jumped on the block bandwagon and champion his music. Now Rosenfeld had written the Secret Service was approved that block had to Teri's it completely that this would not last and there was nothing to it. Once away from the musical world bloc regain his energy by taking long walks in the mountains looking for mushroom as usual and reading a great deal. This would not have been ready described as having a tang of wormwood and ion in it or passages of heavy brutal pounding Zax into prophesied the world events to come. The work is dedicated to the brilliant Italian pianist. I Gusti it isn't three uninterrupted movements the first mass torso energy call is sort of brief tense rhythmic themes which appear after the introduction of which
ascending and descending broken chords. The music moves onward steadily with no break until it reaches a sort of reintroduction which is in itself a cadence. The symmetry of this time softly leading to the second movement passed around. The third movement is a story connected with it. The last years of his life when he settled in the state of Oregon to found a box in which he kept documents illustrating what he found as examples of the utter stupidity of the times they were grotesque and stupid clippings. There were some of the inept questionnaires he'd often receive for special surveys in culture in America. They were prophetic words for the thesis which you kidded can answer sometimes at length. He also had a section in this called Americana full of items touching the Beautiful or the stupid completed the description of this many faceted country in the grotesque folly had put the clipping of a photo taken at a banquet of elderly I make a new Janeiro's. On top of the table is a drum majorette prancing in full regalia surround by admiring faces of the members of the gathering. This pretty girl is wearing high boots
and twirling about all high stepping. Clue to this photo block also has a photograph one of an ancient Chinese sculpture called God of War. This terrible looking creature is high stepping in the identical manner of the drum Maje wrecked the same pose but under the high boots like grabbing figures of his victims trampled under his feet. Bloch would say that the last movement of the Sonata barbaric in character depicts is a brutal aspect of this god of war in the music. The high stepping the heaviness of the material use of the word dynamics which is a summit where this brutal force breaks itself. The end of the world brings a mysterious conclusion which is expressed in blocks words the question of life and the future. You know where the Sonata was a prophecy of the tormented used to come for the entire world. You will hear it's not Das performing and it's Block's piano sonata.
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Series
Ernest Bloch: The man and his music
Episode Number
Episode 12 of 15
Producing Organization
WRVR (Radio station : New York, N.Y.)
Riverside Church (New York, N.Y.)
Contributing Organization
University of Maryland (College Park, Maryland)
AAPB ID
cpb-aacip/500-154ds212
If you have more information about this item than what is given here, or if you have concerns about this record, we want to know! Contact us, indicating the AAPB ID (cpb-aacip/500-154ds212).
Description
Series Description
For series info, see Item 3659. This prog.: Piano Sonata (1935); String Quartet No. 3
Date
1968-11-25
Topics
Music
Media type
Sound
Duration
00:19:32
Embed Code
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Credits
Producing Organization: WRVR (Radio station : New York, N.Y.)
Producing Organization: Riverside Church (New York, N.Y.)
AAPB Contributor Holdings
University of Maryland
Identifier: 68-39-12 (National Association of Educational Broadcasters)
Format: 1/4 inch audio tape
Duration: 00:19:20
If you have a copy of this asset and would like us to add it to our catalog, please contact us.
Citations
Chicago: “Ernest Bloch: The man and his music; Episode 12 of 15,” 1968-11-25, University of Maryland, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC, accessed March 28, 2024, http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-500-154ds212.
MLA: “Ernest Bloch: The man and his music; Episode 12 of 15.” 1968-11-25. University of Maryland, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC. Web. March 28, 2024. <http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-500-154ds212>.
APA: Ernest Bloch: The man and his music; Episode 12 of 15. Boston, MA: University of Maryland, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC. Retrieved from http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-500-154ds212