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Ernest Bloch

The music

Swiss composer Ernest Bloch was born in Geneva on 24 July 1880. Many of Bloch’s works are strongly neo-Classical in style, combining musical forms of the past with 20th-century techniques, and his music also reflects Jewish cultural and liturgical themes as well as European post-Romantic traditions. Bloch studied violin and composition with Louis Rey and Emile Jaques-Dalcroze in his native city, and then with Eugène Ysaÿe and François Rasse in Belgium and Iwan Knorr in Frankfurt. After further study in Munich and Paris, he returned home to Geneva in 1904, where he combined teaching at the Conservatory and working for his father’s clock business with conducting, lecturing and composing. He toured the United States in 1916 with the dancer Maud Allan; following the agency’s bankruptcy, he decided to settle in New York in 1917, where he taught both privately and at the David Mannes College of Music. He conducted orchestral concerts of his own works, quickly establishing himself as the so-called ‘Jewish Composer’, and was awarded the Coolidge Prize for his Viola Suite. It was while he was serving as the director of the San Francisco Conservatory from 1925 to 1930 (an appointment that followed his founding role at the Cleveland Institute of Music from 1920 to 1925) that Bloch, now a US citizen, won first prize in a contest sponsored by Musical America for his epic rhapsody in three parts entitled America. In 1930 he returned to Switzerland, living first in Roveredo-Capriasca in Ticino before moving to Châtel. In 1939, however, feeling increasingly threatened by the emergence of Nazism in neighbouring Germany, he returned to the United States, settling in Oregon. Shortly afterwards he became Professor of Music at the University of California, Berkeley, where he received numerous honours, including the first Gold Medal in Music of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1947) and two New York Music Critics’ Circle awards (1953) for his String Quartet No.3 and Concerto Grosso No.2. Just seven years after retiring, Bloch died of cancer on 15 July 1959 in Portland, Oregon.

Bloch’s Violin Sonata No.1, written in 1920, follows in part the musical tendencies of the time but in a way that is both completely original and very personal, with a strong sense of tonality. It was a worthy addition to the rich literature for violin and piano, achieved through Bloch’s noteworthy artistic commitment, the advanced technical skill he demands from his performers and the great variety of thematic, modal, rhythmic and dynamic figurations. The first movement begins with an impetuous Agitato, followed by a recitative for the violin, Allegro moderato, which is truly imperious in character. The Calmo section that follows is of a more suffused atmosphere and sets the scene for successive thematic elaborations, which become ever more tumultuous, leading to the dazzling whirlwind of the movement’s conclusion. The second movement, Molto quieto, offers an atmosphere ‘molto misterioso’: the elegiac melody of the violin slowly emerges above whispered harmonic textures on the piano. After a few moments of extreme dynamic intensity and alternating phrases between the two instruments, all tension dissolves into the serene quietness of the concluding Molto calmo. The third movement, Moderato, bursts in with military assertiveness, pesante molto, followed once again by recitatives, this time interrupted by harsh accents on the violin. These accents, in 5/4 time, are contrasted with a constant sequence in octaves on the piano while the violin sings along, for once mezza voce, senza espressione. The effect that follows is truly singular, where the violin, muted and playing sul ponticello, gives a kind of commentary on the earlier sequence performed by the piano, but now set in the context of 3/4 time. Thematic elements from the first movement underline the cyclic form of the composition. However, unlike the tumultuous conclusion of the first movement, Bloch prefers to take his leave quietly, diminuendo and rallentando, with a cathartic resolution onto the final E major chord. Suite No.1 for solo violin, composed in 1958, is one of Bloch’s last compositions. It shows traces of his study of the music of the time, which he then incorporates into other characteristics more typical of the archaic partita form. Once again Bloch demands great technical resources from the performer, with counterpoint that often manifests itself as combinations of thematic lines that result from series of very fast notes as well as from chord sequences. The key signatures at the beginning and end clearly indicate tonality – the key of G minor – but almost straight away this is displaced by other techniques that are clearly serial and which appear several times during the composition.

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Except for the initial Prelude, Bloch declines to identify the other movements of the suite as Baroque dance forms, although these are quite evident and recognisable: for example, the Andante tranquillo is rather gavotte-like, while later on another Andante decidedly evokes the nature of a sarabande. A brief recapitulation, Tempo del primo movimento, brings us to the final Allegro, in which a solemn tonal cadence resolves, largamente, onto the final chord of G, this time with a tierce de Picardie that resonates with a sense of definitive quietness. Like the Suite, Abodah (‘God’s Worship’), A Yom Kippur Melody, written in 1929, is dedicated to Yehudi Menuhin and intimately guides us into an expression of the Jewish faith, with melodies accompanied by subdued chords and recitatives that culminate in two intense fortissimos. The quiet conclusion in C minor well expresses the infinite distance between man and God. With Melody, again from 1929, we return to abstract music. A Moderato in D major, with soft notes in the violin, sustained by chords repeated in octaves by the piano and with a bass line that often functions as a countersubject, leaves space further on for a Poco più mosso episode, with dotted notes in hemiola played by the violin. A partial recapitulation in Tempo I brings the music to a short coda, in which the piano recalls the dotted notes of the central episode in other tonalities and ends on the final chord of D major. Bloch wrote the triptych Baal Shem (‘The Master of the Name’), or Three Pictures of Chassidic Life, in 1923, dedicating the first two pieces ‘To the memory of my mother’. The first piece, Vidui (‘Contrition’), in E minor, marked Un poco lento, slowly evolves into an extended recitative for violin, accompanied by unique chords in the piano. In the central section, Calmo, poco a poco animando ed appassionato, the accompaniment is transformed into a slow tremolo as the violin reaches its sonorous climax. In the recapitulation in Tempo I, a startling jump finishes with an anxious lament in the violin, which ends by way of a modal cadence on an E major chord. Nigun (‘Improvisation’) faithfully adheres to the promise of its title. In this piece, the piano participates more actively in the musical discourse, beginning with the irrepressible modal introduction in G minor, Adagio non troppo. The violin recitative is accompanied by the piano’s long notes and successions of appassionato double-dotted chords. The central section, Poco meno lento, allows the piano to introduce a persuasive melody based on the A minor harmonic scale, which is then taken up by the violin; another episode then follows, Poco sostenuto, a theme of a more martial character. A truly overwhelming violin cadenza then leads to the recapitulation, which

remains continuously dramatic right up to the final suspension on the dominant of G. An expression of great exultation for the Law pervades the whole of Simchas Torah (‘Rejoicing’), where a festive theme, Allegro giocoso, alternates with a Sostenuto poco pesante that processes along its way with duly appropriate stateliness. In the central episode, moments of frenetic dancing appear, which then quickly retreat into something much more playful. A final Allegro vivo prepares the way for the solemn conclusion, Largamente (sostenuto), of a sumptuous and almost organ-like sonority. 훿 Maristella and Mario Patuzzi Maristella Patuzzi has played in public since the age of five, accompanied by her father Mario. She made her first recording for Swiss Television at the age of just 11, performing Ravel’s Tzigane for the programme Paganini. In 2000, when she was just 13, she released her first CD with Sony, a live recording of music by Bloch, Bartók and Elgar. Since 2002 she has given many performances as a soloist with ensembles such as the Orchestra della Svizzera italiana, the Orchestra di Padova e del Veneto, the Adelphi Symphony Orchestra of Long Island in New York, the Lucerne Chamber Orchestra and London’s Philharmonia Orchestra. At the age of 17 she passed her university entrance examinations (Maturità federale) at the Lugano Liceo; at that time she was also awarded her Diploma in the violin with full marks, distinction and honours from the ‘G. Verdi’ Conservatoire in Milan. In 2005 she was admitted to Indiana University (USA) as a

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graduate student studying under Miriam Fried, where she was awarded a scholarship for excellence. In 2007, under the guidance of Mark Kaplan, she was awarded the Performance Diploma with full marks, and in 2008, aged just 21, she obtained her Masters degree in the violin with the highest possible marks. In 2009 she attended masterclasses with Sergei Krylov; two years later she gained her Masters in Specialised Music Performance in the violin under the guidance of Carlo Chiarappa from the Conservatorio della Svizzera italiana in Lugano, with full marks, distinction and honours. During this period of study she also received special support from Susanne Holm, Roberto Valtancoli and Massimo Quarta. In 2013 she made a recording of music by Manuel De Sica with the Orchestra Arturo Toscanini conducted by Flavio Emilio Scogna, which was released by Brilliant Classics in early 2014 (94905). She has won numerous first prizes at national and international competitions, and has performed at the Lake District Festival, the Mozart Festival, the Progetto Martha Argerich, the International Mstislav Rostropovich Festival in Baku, at Les Classiques de Villars, at the MITO Settembre-Musica in Milan and Turin, and at the Octobre Musical in Carthage (2014). She plays on the Stradivari ex Bello of 1687, generously lent to her by a private collector. Mario Patuzzi studied the piano with Maria Gennari, Bruno Mezzena and Orazio Frugoni. In 1972, aged just 19, he was awarded both his advanced-level university qualifications in Classical Studies and his Teaching Diploma in the piano (with full marks and honours) from the ‘Francesco Antonio Bonporti’ Conservatoire in Trento, where at the same age he then became Professor of Piano. After a series of successes in various national competitions (Monza, Treviso, Livorno, Taranto, Vercelli, Trieste and Varallo Sesia), in 1977 he won first prize in the ARD International Music Competition in Munich. Following a very busy period of recitals and concerts with many orchestras, including La Scala Orchestra of Milan, the Bayerischer Rundfunk Orchester of Munich and the Hessischer Rundfunk Orchester of Frankfurt, Patuzzi decided to further his studies in harmony and counterpoint, and in 1983, having studied under Andrea Mascagni and Renato Dionisi, he gained his Teaching Diploma in Composition at the Trento Conservatoire. Patuzzi made a large number of recordings for Radiotelevisione svizzera di lingua italiana while continuing his international career as a recitalist, performing most notably the complete 27 Études

by Chopin. He has also made several recordings for other labels, including Cherubini’s Capriccio for Nuova Era and the complete piano works of Julius Reubke for piano, a favourite pupil of Liszt. He has been on juries for many international music competitions, and still teaches, giving seminars and advanced courses at his current home in Lugano as well as lessons at the ‘G. Verdi’ Conservatoire of Como, where he is a professor. He is also a visiting professor at the Festival di musica del Novecento in Perugia and at the universities of Trento, Piacenza and Val Tidone, and the Kunitachi University of Tokyo.

Recording: 9 & 10 May 2011, Auditorio Stelio Molo RSI, Lugano – Besso, Switzerland Producer: Giuseppe Clericetti (RSI) Editing: Giovanni Caruso Booklet photo: 훿 Maria Antonietta Patuzzi Publishers: G. Schirmer (1–3), Carl Fischer (4–5 & 7–9), Broude Brothers Limited (6)  & 훿 2015 Brilliant Classics