The Musical Representation of Jewish Faith in Ernest Bloch's 1923 "Baal Shem Suite"

Ernest Bloch (1880-1959) was a Swiss-American composer of music expressing his Jewish nationality. Through his music, he wanted to convey the importance of Jewish faith in countering antisemitism in the early 20th century. This thesis focuses on Bloch's employment of Jewish liturgical modes and melodic embellishments in his 1923 Baal Shem Suite. The Baal Shem Suite is a three-movement piece for violin and piano and is named after the Baal Shem Tov, founder of the Jewish Hasidic movement. As discussed in the document, the piece portrays Hasidic traditions. This thesis provides a Schenkerian analysis of motivic ideas derived from the Jewish modes and their embellishments, while also describing how both elements evoke Jewish spirituality. The document also identifies resemblances between motives in Bloch's suite and preexisting Jewish melodies. As the thesis states, Bloch likely drew inspiration from cantillation of the Hebrew Bible. He was also likely inspired by 19th-century "Jewish pieces" by Franz Schubert and another Jewish composer named David Popper. The document also references 20th century Jewish composers after Bloch who were likely inspired by his Baal Shem Suite. The thesis also identifies the liturgical modes and embellishments employed in some of the composers' musical works.