Yevgeny Dokshansky, clarinet; Richard Masters, piano.
Ernest BLOCH: From Jewish Life, B.54 (1924)
Ernest BLOCH: Two Pieces, B.82 (1951)
Ernest BLOCH: Suite Hébraïque, B.83 (1951)
Ernest BLOCH: Suite, B.41 (1919)
Heritage Records (HTGCD 158)
Recorded 22-26 May 2021 at the Moss Arts Center, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia.
Giorgio Koukl | 3 JAN 2022
Ernest Bloch ( b. 24 July 1880 Geneva, Switzerland; d. 15 July 1959 Portland, Oregon) was an outstanding figure among 20th-century composers. Despite his nearly complete absence in the Swiss concert life of today, Bloch enjoyed enthusiastic comments in the USA right from his arrival there back in 1916. His music is still widely present, even if only a few of his numerous works are regularly played.
Among his most famous works is his Suite for viola and piano (or orchestra). B. 41 (1919).
Cover art by Tatiana Vintu
The four movements — 1. “Lento-Allegro-Moderato,” 2. “Allegro ironico,” 3. “Lento,” 4. “Molto vivo” — were originally named quite differently: 1. “In the jungle,” 2. “Grotesques,” 3. “Nocturne,” 4. “The Land of the Sun.” These unusual titles are explained by the composer as follows: “It is a vision of the Far East that inspired me: Java, Sumatra, Borneo…those wonderful countries I so often dreamed of, though I was never fortunate enough to visit them in any other way than through my imagination.”
The composer soon changed his mind, saying, “I prefer to leave the imagination of the hearer completely unfettered, rather than to tie him up to a definite program.”
This work was presented at the Berkshire Chamber Music Competition with 72 others and managed to be chosen by the jury along with a viola sonata by Rebecca Clarke. Then, according to different sources, the jury was unable to decide which work was to be preferred. Indeed a difficult task, because, despite the fact that today Rebecca Clarke is completely forgotten, her composition is powerful, well written and extremely original. The last word was that of the jury president: Elisabeth Sprague-Coolidge (1864-1953). This well-known personality of America’s musical life, who generously sponsored so many of the greatest names in music like Stravinsky, Bartok, and Martinu, to name only a few, at the end decided for the Ernest Bloch work.
Clarinetist Dokshansky transcribed the viola part for his instrument, a quite straightforward procedure. He has done so with all the rest of the content of this disc.
Starting a review with the last four tracks (9-12) may seem strange, but in my eyes, this is the most valid part of this installment. Both musicians are playing very well and, for a while, we can forget the terribly dry sonic image, which disturbs so much everywhere else. The work of the sound engineers is not a good one, nor is the choice of the piano. Mr. Dokshansky is playing a Buffet Crampon clarinet, which should be a top instrument. Unfortunately, it sounds a little strange in his hands, with occasional pitch problems and a small dynamic range.
Both musicians are definitely at their ease with quick movements like the Suite’s first and last movements. The slow movements are somehow more problematic, confirming the old adage: “there is nothing more difficult than the easy music.”
But let’s start with the beginning.
Justly, the album starts with the titular From Jewish Life, B.54 (1924) with its three movements, “Prayer,” “Supplication” and “Jewish Song.” Written in 1924 for the cellist Hans Kindler, those are elaborations of Ashkenazi traditional songs as used for the synagogue needs. These are pieces where Bloch tries to stay within certain traditions, with the risk of being entirely dependent on his interpreter’s quality. The original cello melody line possesses a certain nostalgic beauty, especially when played by a highly-skilled cellist like Steven Isserlis. In the clarinet transcription, this subtle quality is lost, and even the occasional use of clarinet glissandi, in the pure klezmer tradition, cannot help the music come to life.
Bloch wrote the music of the following five tracks after a tremendously successful Bloch festival in Chicago. The event was called A Six-Day Ernest Bloch Music Festival, presented by the Ernest Bloch Festival Association with the co-operation of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Fine Arts Quartet, and distinguished soloists in November and December 1950.
The composer answered with five pieces called Suite Hébraïque (1951) for viola and piano.
Later on, he separated two movements called “Meditation” and “Processional” B.82 (tracks 4-5) from the rest. This music has a certain quality with its slow and dark mood. Here the clarinet sound serves far better for the transcription, even if the simplicity of the piano part doesn’t help much. The whole rendering remains quite static.
The rest of the Suite Hébraïque, B.83 with its movements “Rapsodie” (sic), “Processional,” and “Affirmation” follows as track 6-8.
Despite saying of himself: “I am not a musical archaeologist,” Bloch often visited the New York Public Library, where he would copy out the examples of traditional Jewish music from many parts of the world, as presented by Rabbi Francis Lyon Cohen in the Jewish Encyclopedia. His daughter Susanne later found all the exact transcriptions used for this cycle. Once again, the piano part is of extreme simplicity, with only a few notes, so to say not to disturb the solemnity of the original song.
As a new and different essay on Ernest Bloch’s music this CD can serve its purpose, the most musically valuable part being the final Suite. ■
Giorgio Koukl is a Czech-born pianist/harpsichordist and composer who resides in Lugano, Switzerland. Among his many recordings are the complete solo piano works and complete piano concertos of Bohuslav Martinů on the Naxos label. He has also recorded the piano music of Tansman, Lutosławski, Kapralova, and A. Tcherepnin, amongst others, for the Grand Piano label. Koukl has most recently completed recording a second volume of the complete solo piano music of Polish composer Alfons Szczerbinski.
(photo: Chiara Solari)
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