Ernest Bloch

Deux Psaumes for Soprano and Orchestra

Swiss composer Ernest Bloch received a personal and artistic revelation from his reading of the Bible in 1906 - that of Jewish identity. This set of psalms for Soprano and orchestra was one of an extraordinary cycle of works based on Jewish history and religion, in which he used the colorful effects of the modes found in Hebrew cantilation and Yiddish music.

Psalm 114 is a majestic and joyful celebration of the Exodus from Egypt. It is a stately procession of praise with horns imitating the call of the ram's horn instrument, the shofar. The mood radically shifts for Psalm 137 - the famous 'By the Waters of Babylon, ' a lament for lost Jerusalem. The opening and closing sections are dark and lamenting; the central section is faster, picturing the vengeance that awaits the oppressors.

This is the Full Score of this work for study/reference purposes.