Slovak Radio So:Dalia Atlas - Bloch: Israel Symphony

Bloch's so-called Jewish Cycle - the Israel Symphony, Schelomo, Trois Po�mes Juifs and the String Quartet - earned the composer the kind of esteem in America that had been lacking in Europe. The Israel Symphony, premi�red in Carnegie Hall in 1917, is the cycle's centrepiece and originally intended as a gigantic three-part work, but later reduced in size. Powerful and evocative, it also fuses pastoral and sensuous elements in a rich tapestry. The award-winning Suite for Viola and Orchestra (or piano) is a rhapsodic but cyclical tour de force, a 'vision of the Far East', in Bloch's own words.