Ernest Bloch
Schelomo: Rhapsodie Hébraïque

Information

Year of arrangement:  2022

Composer:  Ernest Bloch (1880–1959)

Instrumentation:  1 1 1 1 – 2 1 1 0 – 1perc, hp, str + VC solo

Duration: 24mins

Commission: Fantasia Orchestra and London Mozart Players

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Arrangement made by kind permission of Schirmer 
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Schelomo, the last work in Bloch's ​Jewish Cycle, is arranged here for solo cello and chamber ensemble.

This arrangement was jointly commissioned by Fantasia Orchestra and London Mozart Players, and was performed with Sheku Kanneh–Mason in Norwich, Grayshott, Cambridge and Croydon in February 2023.

How, we might speculate, would Bloch feel about an intimate re-interpretation of his spectacularly theatrical score that a reduction would necessarily entail? How, for example, would the massive climaxes that conclude each of the three main sections of the work, retain their white-hot energy? And who would be willing to take responsibility for this gargantuan task?

Any doubts that may have lingered in my mind were soon dispelled. In my opinion, the experience was magical. The intensity was gripping, the audience mesmerized. Admittedly, every aspect of the music had been scaled down; but everything seemed to be entirely in proportion, including the all-important balance between cello and orchestra. Especially moving for me was Sheku’s sensitivity, and his deep emotional response, not only to the soaring melodic lines of the solo instrument, but also to the passionate orchestral utterances during which he was silent. And George Morton had, I felt, achieved his objective impeccably.

Alexander Knapp, Chairman of the International Ernest Bloch Society
© George Morton 2024