Music Extension

Student: 187
Piece Chosen: Nigun (Improvisation) from three pieces for Baal
Shem in dedication to Ernest Blochs mother.
When was the piece written?
Baal Shem, which includes Nigun, was written in 1923. This is
obviously then a 20
th
century work. Strauss and Mahler, both late
romantic composers influenced Bloch as did the impressionist
composer Debussy. Although Bloch mastered many of the classical
and Baroque forms, he preferred to write in his own style. This
ternary or ABA structure is present in Nigun also. Bloch was
recognised as a Jewish composer however he did not identify himself
as such and the pieces that reflect and honour Jewish culture are only
a small portion of the works that Bloch composed in his lifetime.
After the 2
nd
world war and Blochs witness to the horrific treatment
of Jews he had an artistic silence, after this Bloch began writing in
what we now refer to as a 20
th
century style, with dissonant
harmonies and a more abstract, less melodious writing than before.
What are the characteristics of this style of work?
Ernest Bloch is a 20
th
century composer, however he wrote with an
individual character that doesnt fit easily within a particular style or
school of 20
th
century writing. Some have used the term Jewish
Nationalism but Bloch rejected any notion of this and only about a
quarter of his pieces have this obvious Jewish Influence. David. Z
Kushner refers to a Neo-Classicist bent in works such as the Piano
quintet and Concerto Grosso. Although Rhapsodic it is in a classical
structure of ternary form.(Find this later Definition of Neo
Classicism)

Ernest Blochs harmony doesnt follow a restricted pattern of tonality
or serialism. His rhythmic writing is equally free with frequent
changes of time signature and tempo and the use of cadenza like
passages, which use bar lines for easy reading but avoid metrical
accents. He uses free episodes with explanatory footnotes in some of
his music. The structure of his music is rhapsodic. He uses
combinations of fully developed melodic formations rather than
thematic developments. He makes use of quartertones as an
expressive technique rather than an example of a school of writing
that uses quartertones or twelve tones. He was also influenced by the
culture of Polynesia, Indonesia and Tibet this is especially present in
the scalic passages present in many of his works. His music is free of
many of the tonal and structural relationships of earlier periods. His
harmonies make use of fifths and this is possibly a neo-classical
element present in his music. He was interested in the expressive
nature of music and the expression of human hope and
disappointment as much as music in its own right. His music is said
to have a Jewish quality although this seems to have been intuitive
rather than intentional and his music evolved especially during his
time in America. Bloch said of this identification as a Jewish
Composer, "it is neither my purpose nor desire to attempt a
reconstruction of Jewish music, nor to base my work on more or less
authentic melodies...I am not an archaeologist; for me the most
important thing is to write good and sincere music." Bloch wrote of
Baal Shem, the three movement work of which Nigun is a part "What
interests me, is the Jewish soul, the enigmatic, ardent, turbulent soul
that I feel vibrating throughout the Bible...it is all this that I
endeavour to hear in myself and to transcribe into my music; the
vulnerable emotion of the race that slumbers way down in our souls.
Was the work originally intended to be performed on your
instrument/can it be performed on various performing media?
This work was originally written for Violin and Piano in 1923
however in 1939 Ernest Bloch adapted it for Orchestra and Violin
soloist. Although the accompaniment changed, the solo instrument is
always the violin as many of the techniques present in the piece
cannot be adapted to other instruments.
List TWO performers who have played this work and discuss the
similarities and differences in their interpretation of the piece
There are many recording and interpretations of this work. The two
performances I shall be comparing are Jascha Heifetz 1972
performance and Joshua Bells 2006 performance.
Similarities:
Both Heifetz and Bell capture the virtuosic style of the piece
Although their interpretations may differ they both play with
passion and are clearly engaged in their respective
performances
Both performers employ a full range of dynamic shading
Heifetz and Bell are both bringing Blochs music to life and
appealing to our hearts although each has his own quite
different approach to the piece.
Differences
While Bells interpretation makes use of the commas e.g
Bar 5, Heifetz makes little use of these pauses and the use
of space
Bells interpretation is much slower in tempo while
Heifetz interpretation is more fast paced
Heifetz performance is very fast and has an angry attack
to it Bells performance is more sensitive and less
aggressive