Three Jewish Poems

• Bloch composed Trois Poèmes Juifs (Three Jewish Poems)in 1913. It premiered in 1917 in Boston.¹
• This is part of a series of large works which Bloch called his “Jewish Cycle.”²
• Bloch composed Three Jewish Poems shortly after the death of his father, to whom the work is dedicated.³

Movements

1. Danse
2. Rite. This movement portrays an ancient sacrifice as depicted in the Hebrew Scriptures. Begins with a procession of priests, a sacrificial offering with the reaction of onlooking worshippers; closes with a final procession.⁴
3. Cortège funèbre⁵

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. Alexander Knapp, liner notes to Ernest Bloch: Symphony in E flat, Macbeth – 2 Interludes, 3 Jewish Poems, In Memoriam, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Dalia Atlas Strenberg, ASV 1019, CD, 1987.
3. Ibid.
4. Ibid.
5. Ernest Bloch, Trois Poèmes Juifs pour Grand Orchestre (New York: G. Schirmer, 1918).