Classical Music | Violin Music

Ernest Bloch

Nigun, from Baal Shem Suite  Play

Lindsay Deutsch Violin
Kuang-Hao Huang Piano

Recorded on 12/07/2004, uploaded on 01/13/2009

Musician's or Publisher's Notes

Nigun, from Baal Shem Suite      Ernest Bloch

The creator of music of great spiritual expression, Ernest Bloch was born in Geneva, Switzerland. In his native city, he studied violin and composition. The composer settled in the United States and assumed the directorship of the Cleveland Institute of Music and later the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Bloch incorporated novel musical elements into highly dramatic scores, often influenced by philosophical, poetic, or religious themes. A master composer of music for strings, Bloch's pupil Roger Sessions praised him for his special ability to express "the grandeur of human suffering." The suite Baal Shem, 'three pictures of Chassidic life' is composed of Vidui (contrition), Nigun (prayer), and Simchas Torah (rejoicing). The Nigun, as played here, is full of emotion and conjures up all the history, hope, sorrow, and tears of the Jewish people.    Lindsay Deutsch