Concerto grosso No. 1

• Bloch composed his Concerto grosso No. 1 for strings with piano obbligato in Cleveland in 1925.¹
• The work premiered in Cleveland on June 1, 1925.²
• Bloch was teaching at Cleveland Institute of Music (CIM) when he composed this (he was Founding Director). His teaching style was distinctive for its focus on analyzing historical works rather than relying on textbooks.³ Many students felt tonality was obsolete in the age of Schoenberg and Stravinsky: Bloch wrote this neo-baroque concerto grosso with Romantic and Modernist flavor to prove them wrong.⁴
• Bloch updated the Baroque tradition of including stylized dances in orchestral suites by using a folk dance from his homeland of Switzerland.⁵

“What do you think now? This is tonal! It just has old-fashioned notes!”

Ernest Bloch, to the CIM Orchestra, when they were surprised to find themselves enjoying this “old-fashioned” tonal piece he was conducting.⁶

Movements

1. Prelude
2. Dirge
3. Pastorale and Rustic Dances
4. Fugue⁷

1. David Z. Kushner, “Bloch, Ernest,” Grove Music Online (2001), accessed July 31, 2019, https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000003287.
2. Ibid.
3. A.I. Elkus, W.D. Denny and E.B. Lawton, Jr., “Ernest Bloch, Music: Berkeley,” from 1961: University of California: In Memoriam (1961), University of California Digital Archives (2011), accessed July 31, 2019, http://texts.cdlib.org/view?docId=hb2t1nb146;NAAN=13030&doc.view=frames&chunk.id=div00003&toc.depth=1&toc.id=&brand=calisphere.
4. Chris Myers, “Concerto Grosso No. 1,” Redlands Symphony, accessed July 31, 2019, https://www.redlandssymphony.com/pieces/concerto-grosso-no-1.
5. Ibid.
6. Ibid.
7. “Concerto Grosso No. 1, B.59 (Bloch, Ernest),” IMSLP, accessed September 10, 2021, https://imslp.org/wiki/Concerto_Grosso_No.1%2C_B.59_(Bloch%2C_Ernest).