Ernest Bloch in Switzerland (1949)
|
"I would like to have the strength, the possibility to come and die in the country where I was born, near those who love me, and not in my solitary exile here, which weighs on and oppresses me, more than ever."
(Ernest Bloch, in a letter to his sister Loulette, Agate Beach, August 17, 1958)
The composer Ernest Bloch was born in Geneva in 1880. A significant personality in the music history of the twentieth century, he contributed to this period several admirable masterpieces, in which his vibrant spirituality expresses itself as much as the intensity of his emotion.
Even though having to emigrate to the United States, where most of his career developed and where he died in 1959, he always remained immensely attached to his native country, in honor of which he dedicated a vast symphonic poem, Helvetia. During his entire life, the Swiss mountains, to which he returned to regularly, were a place where he was able to re-gain his energy and gather inspiration. The mountains were also the place, where several of his most beautiful œuvres were created.
(Text: J. Tchamkerten, Translation: O. Margulies)
|
The year 2009 marks the 50th anniversary of the death of Ernest Bloch.
During this year, concerts and other manifestations will be organized, in particular in the United States, England, Israel and Switzerland.
For this purpose, the "Association BloCH 09/10" was constituted in 2008 in Switzerland, its activities extending until present-day under the name of "Association BloCH".
|