Ernest Bloch - String Quartet No. 1

Composer: Ernest Bloch (24 July 1880 -- 15 July 1959)
Performers: Griller String Quartet
Year of recording: 1954

String Quartet No. 1, written in 1916.

00:00 - I. Andante moderato
15:43 - II. Allegro frenetico
27:43 - III. Andante molto moderato (Pastorale)
41:56 - IV. Finale. Vivace

This work was written at a turbulent times for both Bloch and the World. Composition commenced in 1915 with a war raging in Europe. Bloch moved to the United States for the first time before completing the writing of this work in 1916. Bloch described this work as:" a kind of synthesis of my vision of the world at that period."

It is dedicated to the Flonzaley Quartet, one of the early pioneers of professional chamber music groups. It is in the key of b minor. Bloch titled the work in French Quatour a Cordes, without indicating a number. It would be almost 30 years before Bloch would complete another quartet.

The work is written in a cyclic form that was common to the Franco-Belgium school of composers. This is a structural technique wherein themes return from movement to movement. This is the longest of the quartets which is also indicative of the times in which it was written. In the 1950s when he wrote his final three quartets, Bloch's music would be much more tightly constructed resulting in a less luxurious feeling than we encounter with this string quartet.

Bloch admits some of his Jewish colourations into the fabric of this music. He even quotes form his masterpiece "Schelomo" [uploaded on this channel]. But no matter how atmospheric Bloch might become, it is never the whole story.

In almost all of his larger works Bloch imparts a feeling of gravity and weight. He never wrote a trivial note, yet his works have an ear catching quality that makes them uniquely his.

The technical abilities he possessed gave him license to create new formulas which were totally convincing. This was already evident at this time in his career. It is not surprising that in the United States he would hold several important teaching positions.

The piece is dedicated: "Au Quatuor de Flonzaley".