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Ernest Bloch’s Avodath Ha-Kodesh

in part from Ps. 31:6, be-yado “Into His hand do I com- the better part of me. This it is which I seek to
mend my spirit…and with it my body” is sung “with feel within me and to translate in my music—
supreme resignation,” and concludes with a solid state- the sacred race emotion that lies dormant in our
ment of hope and courage: ve-lo ira “I shall not fear.” souls.
In many synagogues and temples, the Adon Olam
is sung to a lively melody, sometimes led by a young- The Sacred Service stresses universal brotherhood and is
ster, or made to fit to popular tunes. Bloch saw the Adon permeated by the hope that Mankind will transcend
Olam as the culmination of the piece, the answer to idolatry and fetishisms of all kinds. Written in Europe
the questions raised by the rest of the service, and in in the early 1930s against the backdrop of the rising im-
particular the universal cry and lamentation and the portance of Fascism and the Nazi party, the work has a
Mourners’ Prayer. He reported that he consulted with timeliness that still resonates today.
the Orthodox Rabbi Alessandro da Fano (d. 1935) in
Milan about his understanding of this poem. The Sa-
cred Service ends with the Priestly Benediction (Num. NOTES
6:24-26). Bloch: “After the orchestra and chorus give
this message of faith, hope and courage, we must send 1 Seth Ward, “The Liturgy of Bloch’s Avodath Ha-Kodesh” Mod-
people back to their routine of living, cooking, laundry ern Judaism, A Journal of Jewish Ideas and Experience 23:3
and so on. Thus the priest gives a Benediction, the cho- (October 2003): 243-263. See this article for detailed
rus answers, ‘Amen’ and they leave.” references. Note that Bloch’s statements in this article
come from two sources: Robert Strassburg, Ernest Bloch:
Voice in the Wilderness (Los Angeles: Trident Shop, Califor-
Conclusion nia State University, 1977): 136ff., who gives the text of
Bloch found his musical expression inspired in some Bloch’s speech about the piece at Congregation Emanu-
ways by traditional Jewish music but using its melodies El; and Bloch, letter of 1944, in Collected Writings of A.W.
only sparingly, for dramatic effect. He found his own Binder p. 32-33, ed. Irene Heskes (New York, Bloch Pub-
meaning in the words and the service itself, studying lishing, 1971): 33.
the words intensively in Hebrew, and coming to know
the text in great detail. While he was committed to a
vernacular component, he also set Hebrew texts that
were not included in the Union Prayer Book. He tried For more on Ernest Bloch's Sacred
to capture the text of the service, with its drama, its Service, visit the archives:
interplay of themes from Torah, Prophets, ancient Is-
raelite Kings, and generations of liturgical poetry. “Universalism and Particularism in
Ernest Bloch’s Sacred Service,” by
I do not propose or desire to attempt a recon- Joshua R. Jacobson. Choral Journal,
struction of the music of the Jews… It is rather November 2009.
the Hebrew spirit that interests me—the com-
plex, ardent, agitated soul that vibrates for me “Ernest Bloch’s Sacred Service
in the Bible; the vigor and ingenuousness of (Avodath Hakodesh) in Contemporary
the Patriarchs, the violence that finds expres- Context: A Personal Commentary on
sion in the books of the Prophets, the burning the Music and Its Legacy,” by Nick
love of justice, the desperation of the preach- Strimple. Choral Journal, November
ers of Jerusalem, the sorrow and grandeur of
the book of Job, the sensuality of the Song of 2018.
Songs. All this is in us, all this is in me, and is

44 CHORAL JOURNAL October 2023 Volume 64 Number 3