REDISCOVER Ernest Bloch's Sacred Service

July 27, 2016

Ask the question “Who is the greatest Jewish composer?” and many will say Ernest Bloch. The Swiss-born Jew, who became an important figure on the American scene, composed a host of works connected to his Jewish identity and the liturgy. Ask what Bloch’s most important Jewish work is, and most will answer Sacred Service (Avodat Hakodesh).

In honor of the 136th anniversary of Bloch’s birth this week, the Milken Archive is proud to present an original video documentary of this seminal piece of Jewish musical history. The video includes an interview with famed baritone Robert Merrill, who, along with Leonard Bernstein, made the definitive recording of Sacred Service (available in the Milken Archive’s Volume 7: Masterworks of Prayer). Additionally, the video features several of the composer’s own photographs from the period, highlighting the environment that provided him with much of the inspiration that fueled the work’s completion.

Commissioned by San Francisco’s Temple Emanu-El in the 1930s, Bloch’s Sacred Service is widely considered to be the first successful and most enduring exploration of the Hebrew liturgy for serious artistic purposes. It took Bloch approximately five years to complete and inspired a deep engagement with the liturgical text—a text he revered so much he called it “a gift of Israel to the whole of mankind.”


The Motive
Volume 7 cover art
Program notes put the Sacred Service in perspective.
The Man
Ernst Bloch
Biography explores the "inner voice" behind    
The Music
Amazon Music
Definitive recording available from Amazon Music.

Media Inquiries
Email: media@milkenarchive.org

Bonnie Somers
Senior Vice President, Communications
(310) 570-4770

Subscribe

Don't miss our latest releases, podcasts, announcements and giveaways throughout the year! Stay up to date with our newsletter.

{{msToTime(currentPosition)}} / {{msToTime(duration)}}
{{currentTrack.title}}
{{currentTrack.album}}