LDV42

22 BLOCH | ELGAR Chronologically speaking, Schelomo occupies the central position in the ‘Jewish Cycle’ that Bloch assembled between 1912 ( Israel Symphony) and 1923 ( Baal Shem and From Jewish Life ). He wrote the work in two months starting in December 1915, transportedby a creative fever that one senses in theurgencyof thedeclamations of the soloist and the surging orchestral crescendos that punctuate his interventions. Captivated by the sonority of Alexandre Barjansky’s cello, Bloch conceived his rhapsody for and dedicated it to him, but only once accompanied himas conductor, at theAugusteo in Rome on 22 January 1933. This came sixteen years after the work was premiered on 3 May 1917 by Hans Kindler, principal cellist of the Philadelphia Orchestra, with the New York Philharmonic conducted by Artur Bodanzky. That evening was entirely devoted to the Jewish Cycle (thus it also presented the Israel Symphony) and was organised by the President of the Society of the Friends of Music, Mrs Harriet Lanier.