But with the "Trois Poemes juives," the original Bloch is at hand. These
compositions were conceived at first as studies for "Jezabel," the opera
Bloch intended composing directly after he had completed the scoring of
"Macbeth" in 1904. To-day, "Jezabel" still exists only in the libretto
of Flegg and in the series of sketches deposited in the composer's
portfolio. The moment in which Bloch is to find it possible for him to
realize the work has not yet arrived. Planned at first to follow
directly upon "Macbeth," "Jezabel" promises fairly to become the goal of
his first great creative period. But out of the conception of the opera
itself, out of the desire of creating a work around this Old
Testamentary figure, out of the train of emotion excited by the project,
there have already flowed results of a first magnitude for Bloch and for
modern music. For in the process of searching out a style befitting this
biblical drama, and in the effort to master the idiom necessary to it,
Bloch executed the compositions that have placed him so eminently in the
company of the few modern masters. The three Psalms, "Schelomo,"
"Israel," portions of the quartet, have but trodden further in the
direction marked out by the "Trois Poemes juives." "Jezabel" has turned
out to be one of those dreams that lead men on to the knowledge of
themselves.
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