Obscure Music Monday: Bloch's Hiver-Printemps

Ernest Bloch (July 24, 1880 – July 15, 1959) was born in Geneva, and considered one of the greatest Swiss composers. He started playing the violin and composing at 9, and studied in Brussels, Germany, and Paris. Later on, Bloch taught at the Mannes School of Music, the Cleveland Institute of Music, and the San Francisco of Music.

Bloch wrote for many genres–orchestral, solo works, concertantes, choral works, and chamber works. HIs orchestral work, Hiver-Printemps (Winter-Spring) was written in 1905, and starts out with beat that seems unsure of itself, before a somber english horn comes in. Bloch paints a dark, bleak atmosphere that tries briefly to brighten up in to a major key, but it stays in c# minor throughout most of the work. He puts the chilly season to music incredibly well, and very expressively, occasionally hinting at Impressionism here and there. The work ends on an unresolved key, but that is soon forgotten as the Printemps movement comes in, with bright-eyed and cheerful melodies, particularly in the woodwinds. Filled with hope and optimism, he paints the perfect picture of flowers blossoming and warmth returning–a wonderful contrast from the movement before!