Ernest Bloch (born July 24, 1880,Geneva, Switzerland—died July 15, 1959,Portland, Oregon, U.S.) was a composer whosemusic reflects Jewish cultural and liturgical themes as well as European post-Romantic traditions. His students includedRoger Sessions andRandall Thompson.

Bloch studied with noted Swiss composerÉmile Jaques-Dalcroze and in Belgium with violinistEugène Ysaÿe. From 1911 to 1915 he taught at the Geneva Conservatory. He toured theUnited States in 1916 with the English dancer Maud Allen, and after the tour company went bankrupt he settled inNew York. In 1920 he became the first director of the Cleveland Institute of Music, a position he held until 1925. Bloch became a U.S. citizen in 1924. He directed the San Francisco Conservatory of Music from 1925 to 1930. In 1930 he went toSwitzerland, but he returned to the United States in December 1938. In June 1939 he received an offer to teach at theUniversity of California atBerkeley. In 1941 he bought a house in Agate Beach,Oregon, near that of his married son, where he produced one-third of his compositional output when he was not teaching or traveling. His association with Berkeley lasted until his retirement in 1952.

Bloch’s music reflects many post-Romantic influences, among them the styles ofClaude Debussy,Gustav Mahler, andRichard Strauss. His interest in thechromatic sonorities of Debussy andMaurice Ravel is evident in thetone poemHiver-Printemps (1905;Winter-Spring). Bloch composed a significant group of works on Jewish themes, among them theIsrael Symphony (1916),Trois poèmes juifs fororchestra (1913;Three Jewish Poems), the tone poemSchelomo for cello and orchestra (1916;Solomon), and the suiteBaal Shem for violin and piano (1923). His sacred serviceAvodath Hakodesh for baritone, chorus, and orchestra (1930–33) represents the full maturity of his use of music appropriate to Jewish themes and liturgy. Many of Bloch’s works show a strong neoclassical trend, combining musical forms of the past with 20th-century techniques. Examples include hisConcerto Grosso No. 1 (1925) and hisQuintet for piano and strings (1923), whichutilizes quarter tones to colour and heighten the emotional intensity of the music. His other notable works include an “epic rhapsody” for orchestra (America, 1926), theSuite for viola and piano (1919), and five string quartets (1916, 1945, 1952, 1953, 1956).

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