The fact that none
of these somewhat rare works by Bloch are first recordings bodes
well for his discography. None of them fall into his well-known
“Jewish” or “Neo-classical” periods. In this, her third volume
of Bloch orchestral music for Naxos, Dalia Atlas – who also
supplies the liner-note - deals with smaller-scale works. But
the pieces here are all worthy of the same attention given to
the better–known works. They show aspects of his musical personality
that one could not discover elsewhere.
The works here span
the composer’s career. The Two Poems date from 1905 and are
among the first in which he freed himself from the prevailing
Straussian aesthetic of the time. They are linked melodically
with the first (Winter), betraying a sort of Russian
nostalgia and having an effective central section. Perhaps the
performers add to the Slavic melancholy. Spring is more
impressionistic and naturally more spirited, reminiscent of
Dukas and once or twice of Henry Hadley. Unfortunately the recording
is bass-heavy and somewhat too reverberant, although the woodwind
are to be commended.
The Four Episodes
jump more than twenty years forward to 1926 and have little
in the way of Jewish or Neo-classical qualities. The work derives
from a less evident stylistic fusion and is scored for wind
quintet, string quintet and piano. From this the composer derives
an almost orchestral sound and the use of the woodwinds is again
felicitous. Interestingly the first piece, Humoresque,
is built around a single figure and is just as “obsessive” as
the second piece. Suggestions of Bach, various French composers
and of the Dies Irae periodically surface in Obsession.
Calm is just what is needed after its predecessors and
already shows a slight American influence. The last piece, Chinese,
evokes Bloch’s love of Chinese Theaters and also makes reference
to the previous pieces. It is not your typical chinoiserie.
The Concertino and
the Suite Modale were written after the Second World War and
demonstrate an increased interest in writing for the flute,
an instrument that Bloch had always loved. The combination of
flute and viola with strings in the Concertino is reminiscent
of Holst's Fugal Concerto and demonstrates a similar concern
with pre-Classical forms. The first movement evinces traits
of some of the American composers of the time; Bloch had finally
settled there. It slides into a slower movement which is one
of the most affecting I have heard by him before the finale
demonstrates the composer’s fugal ability which in turn ends
in a polka!
One of Bloch’s last
works was the Suite Modale for Flute and Strings. In these last
years the composer added an interest in modality to all this
other styles. This work overall is more meditative than the
Concertino, especially in the first movement which is perfectly
suited to the flute. The second movement is in the same tempo
as the first but has a totally different feel, more like that
of the Concertino. The allegro giocoso has a beautiful
middle section that is again evocative of pre-Classical music.
The last movement is the most substantial and would seem from
its tempo listings to be a decisive, energetic piece, but it
ends reflectively and almost sadly.
With three ensembles
in three different halls it is a little difficult to discuss the
recording quality of this disc. It can be said that the Israeli
halls interfere less with the sound of the music. Noam Buchman
does a wonderful job with the extended flute passages in the two
late works, although in the Suite some listeners may prefer the
more dynamic Alexa Still on Koch International. There is a good
recording of Winter-Spring by David Shallon (review)
on Timpani but I find Atlas’s performances more authentic and
indeed her conducting of the entire disc is exemplary.
William Kreindler
Noam Buchman
(flute) (Concertino; Suite); Yuri Gandelsman (viola) (Concertino);
