Bloch turned to his Jewish identity for inspiration in part because the latent hostility toward Jews in his native Geneva left him ostracized from that city's musical life. His incorporation of Jewish materials in his music ranges from direct quotations, which are consciously intended, to materials associated with Jewish music but not directly quoted from any particular source, which are less consciously recalled. The latter include Jewish cantillation modes, less specifically Jewish exotic scales allowing for melodic skips of an augmented second or fourth, and rhapsodic, quasi-improvised passages.

Works: Bloch: Baal Shem Suite, Abodah, Suite Hébraïque,Israel Symphony,Avodath Hakodesh, Schelomo, Voice in the Wilderness.

Index Classifications: 1900s

Contributed by: David Lieberman