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The Canadian English'Jewish Weekly
VOL XLI
CrAHDENVALE, QUEBEC, AUGUST 2*. 1359
Bloch Was One Of Most Important Composers Of This Century
Ernest Bloch, composer and conductor, died in a hospital in Portland, Oregon, where he had been under treatment for cancer.
His age was 78 years. Mr. Bloch, one of the most important composers of the present century, neither founded a school nor had aetive disciples, as has been the case with many of his contemporary colleagues.
His music was much too original to be imitated; and, while Mr. Bloch himself was a noted pedagogue, he never foisted his
i
own theories upon his pupils, be-ing content to analyze, great masters like Bachh and Beethoven, says the New York Times. Yet by force of his musical personality and the uncompromising - honesty-of his-ideas,-he_ was_ refc__ ognized even by those who did not agree with his principles as one of the masters of contemporary music.
Mr. Bloch was born in Geneva on July 24, 1880. The violin was his first instrument. More and more, however, his interest turned toward composition, and at the age of 15 he had composed a string quartet�and�an�^Oriental-Symphony." He studied in Geneva under Jacques Dalcroze, and in 1897 went to the Brussels Conservatory, where he worked with Eugen Ysaye and Francois Rasse. Then followed additional study in the Frankfurt and Munich Conservatories.
After his student days, Mr. Bloch made his headquarters in Paris. His first published piece of music was issued there in 1903 -�the "Historiettes au Cr^pus-cule," for voice and piano. At about this time he started his first important work, the lyric-drama, "Macbeth," wfiich was completed in 1909 and produced the next year at the Ope>a Co-mique.
"Macbeth," because of the strangeness of its idiom, aroused violent controversy. After more than a dozen performances in two seasons it was withdrawn and it was not heard again for more than twenty-five years. In 1915 Mr. Bloch became Professor of Composition and Esthetics at the Geneva Conservatory. The next _year he visited America as conductor for the American-dancer, Maude Allan.
Shortly afterward, Mr. Bloch became an American citizen. He taught at the Mannes School of Musufin New York and in 1920 became director of the newly formed Cleveland Institute of Music. Six years later, he assumed direction of the new San Fran-cisco Conservatory. He remained there until 1930, when a ten-year grant enabled him to devote himself to composition.
During those years he composed in Europe. During a visit to New York- in 193* he conducted the premiere of his "Sacred Service," a commission by Gerald Warburg for service in the Reform Synagogue, says the New York Times. At the outbreak of hostilities in 1939, Mr. Bloch returned to the United States.
As a composer, Mr. Bloch was best known for his works that express the Jewish spirit. The composer in 1938 wrote an article for Musica Hebraica in which he set forth his doctrine:
"In my work termed 'Jewish' �my Psalms, 'Schelomo,' 'Israel,' 'Three Jewish Poems,' 'Baal Shem/ pieces for the 'cello, 'The Sacred Service,' 'The Voice in the Wilderness'�I have not approached the problem from without�by employing melodies more or less authentic (frequently borrowed from or under the influence of other nations) or 'Oriental' formulae, rhythms or intervals, more or less sacred!
"No! I have but listened to an inner voice, deep, secret, insistent, ardent,�an�instinct�much�more
than cold and dry reason, a voice which seemed to come from afar beyond myself, far beyond my parents * * *
"This entire Jewish heritage - moved me deeply; it was reborn in my music. To" what exte~nt~ if is Jewish, to what extent it is just Ernest Bloch, of that I know nothing. The future alone will decide."
Mr. Bloch previously had stated that "it is not my desire to attempt a 'reconstitution' of Jewish music. It is the Jewish soul that interests me, the complex, glowing, -agitated-SQuLthat I feel vibrating^ throughout the Bible."
During his career Mr. Bloch was the recipient of several prizes, says' the New York Times. His Suite for Viola and Piano won the Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge Award of $1,000 in 1919, and his epic rhapsody, "America," won the Musical America competition in 1927-28. In 1942 the American Academy of Arts and Letters conferred upon him its gold medal. Mr. Bloch was the first composer to receive it.
His Second String Quartet won the 1947 New York Music Critics Award for the best American chamber work of the season. In 1953 he achieved the unusual distinction of being cited twice by the Music Critics Circle. His Third String Quartet was named the best chamber work of the year and his Concerto Grosso No. 2 the best work in the orchestral category.
In 1957 Mr. Bloch received the Henry Hadley Medal of the National Association for American Composers and Conductors for "distinguished service to Ameri-
^caj^jnusic." On April 8, 1958, he received a citation from the Na-
Vtional Jewish Welfare Board "for distinguished contributions to the development of American Jewish culture."
His last two works, completed in 1956, were a pair of Suites for unaccompanied 'cello. The first of these is strongly traditional in
Mich. Supreme Court Bars Mixed Seating Plan
The decision of the Michigan Supreme Court, barring plans of a Mount Clemens Jewish Congregation to institute mixed seating, was hailed by the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America as sustaining the princi-
f�le that issues of Jewish religious aw can be decided only by qualified rabbinic authorities and not by votes of laymen. The ruling unanimously upheld the position of the plaintiffs, a minority group of .Congregation Beth Tefilas Moses, which had opposed the projected change from separate�to mixed
Ben-Gurion Favours Formal Ties With West Germans
The question of Israel's re-establishing diplomatic relations with West Germany has not been brought up in recent years because West Germany was ('not ready for this," an Israeli Foreign Ministry source told the New York Times. If West Germany's attitude changed, he added, the matter would most probably be taken up by the Israeli Government.
Premier David Ben-Gurion has stated on several occasions that he would be in favour of formal ties with the German Federal re-
Came To U. S. With $3.40, Gives $300,000 To Hebrew I).
Largest Orthodox Group Of U.S. Rabbis Plans Center In Israel
seating of men and women at religious services. The plaintiffs contended such a change would be a violation of religious property rights. The State Supreme Court decision reversed the finding of
a lower court.� � -------- -
Moses I. Feuerstein, president of the Union, the national body of traditional congregations of the United States and Canada, pointed out that the ruling also affirmed two other basic religious rights. He said these were that a minority in a congregation could not be deprived of its religious rights by a majority, and that property�righto of a ^ninerity-^ could not be taken away by a majority. Mr. Feuerstein noted that the legal principle enunciated by the Supreme Court of Michigan, namely that the courts will protect a minority against a group supporting doctrines fundamentally opposed to the doctrines of the religious denomination or disavowing the tenets and practices hitherto followed, had been applied in numerous cases elsewhere. Among these other cases, Reid against Johnston, decided by the Supreme . Court of North Carolina, and in- ^ volving a dispute among. Baptist*/' is illustrative. *
The ruling, the Union president added, also sustained the plaintiffs' position that a "momentary majority" may not change the historic character of a synagogue through use of a ballot for that purpose, and that the proposed change constituted an infringement of the religious and property rights of the minority despite the fact that there was "no expressed trust'' to which the property of the congregation wa.s subject. The decision also affirmed -the-filaintiffs' contention_that- the.
public. He repeated this. However, there is still some opposition to the idea among the parties in the Knesset (Parliament).
Since 1956 West Germany has not indicated that she would favour establishing relations with Israel^ the Foreign Ministry source said. The reason for this, he "went on, apparently was West Germany's concern that this would prompt the Arab states to recognize East Germany.
Israel has been receiving about $70,000,000 annually in reparations from West Germany. An Israeli purchasing mission has been established in Cologne to direct _the_buying of German goods and equipment with~these funds. This-mission has certain diplomatic
(Continued on PaQe Seven)
Charles Charcowsky, of New York and Miami Beach, business mah and philanthropist, who recently donated $200,000 to the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, announced a new gift of $100,000 for the purpose of establishing a chair in poultry science and animal hygiene at the Jerusalem school. The new ppst will be held by Dr. Me lech Pereki of the University's School of Agriculture. Mr. Charcowsky,
who UVes at 2445 Walton Avenue, the Bronx, arrived in the United States in 1904 as an immigrant house-painter and paper-hanger, and rose to be an important figure in the wholesale and retail paint industry. He made the allocation through- the- Charcowsky Foundation, which he recently formed with funds in excess of $600,000 earmarked for charitable purposes.
The philanthropist said in a statement: "I came to the United States from Russia 55 years ago as an almost penniless stranger with a total capital of $3.40. I do not believe that anyone could find�the -same�opportunities for making good in any country in the
(Continued on Page Three)
The Rabbinical Council of America formulated plans at Fallsburg, N. Y., for the establishment of an academic center in Israel. The center would serve as "an instrumentality for the building of a cultural and religious bridge between Israel and American Jews."
Rabbi Charles Weinberg, first vice president of the Council* announced that the proposed $500,-
000 academic center would be an adjunct of the Council's Yeshivath Hadorom. This is an institution of higher Rabbinic and Talmudic learning at Rehovoth, Israel. It trains teachers, rabbis, and social workers for service in Israel, says the New YorkTimes.-The Council � the largest Jewish Orthodox rabbinic group in the U. S. held its twenty-third annual convention in Fallsburg.
Rabbi Weinberg said that gradx uates of Jewish Orthodox rabbinical seminaries in the U.S. would be invited to study for a year or more at the academic center ^for_special research in the fields of JewisTFreligious law, Is-
(Continued on Page Three)
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structure. The second, more freely modern, is virtually a one-movement work.
Mr. Bloch's "Sacred Service" was given in its entirety at a concert at Temple Emanu-El in New York on_^lay 3 by a symphony of seventy musicians and three choirs, Bays the New York Times. Parts of the "Sacred Service" are played at almost every Reform service.
Surviving Mr. Bloch are his widow, Marguerite; two daughters, Suzanne, a performer on ancient instruments who is in private life Mrs. Paul Smith; and Mrs. Lucienne Dimitroff, of Mill Valley, Calif.; and a son, Ivan, of Portland. _
congregation was established and maintained through its 48-year history as an Orthodox synagogue as well as their contention that the unchallenged evidence proved that mixed seating violated Jewish Religious Law and the sanc-titv of the synagogue.
The Michigan nigh court ruling climaxed a struggle of more than five years, led by Baruch Litvin, Mount Clemens business man, against the proposed change. The decision was based on a brief prepared by Samuel L. Brenn-glass, New" York attomey, who is-national vice-president of the Union and chairman of its communal relations commission. The brief was submitted by the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America and the Rabbinical Council of America, the largest association of Orthodox rabbis in the United States, as "amici curiae" in support of the plaintiffs.
(Continued on Page Three)____
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