He studied in his native Geneva, Switzerland, and in Frankfurt and Brussels. He entered his father's clock business in Geneva but began to conduct and also teach aesthetics at the Geneva Conservatory. He began to teach in the United States during World War I and in 1920 was appointed the first director of the Cleveland School of Music, then from 1925 to 1930, headed the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Bloch spent most of the thirties in Europe but returned to the US in 1940, settling settling in Newport, Oregon at Agate Beach, and teaching at the University of California, Berkeley. As a composer, he is noted for the Jewish influence on his works. These include his cello suite, Schlemo, his Israel Symphony, Sacred Service (commissioned by Temple Emmanuel, San Francisco), chamber music and Baal Shem and Abodah for violin and piano.

Bibliography:

BLOCH, Ernst. Essays on the philosophy of music. Translated by Peter Palmer; with an introduction by David Drew. Pp. xlviii, 250. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1985

KUSHNER, David Z. Ernest Bloch: a guide to research. Pp. xiii, 345: ill. New York: Garland Pub., 1988

Web Sites of Interest

 Ernst Bloch - G. Schirmer, Inc. and Associated Music Publishers, Inc.

A Young Person’s Guide to Ernst Bloch