Sacred Service (Avodath Hakodesh)

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ERNEST BLOCH
Sacred Service (Avodath Hakodesh)
Louis Berkman (baritone) / The Zemel Choir / members of the London Chorale and the London Concord Singers / London Symphony Orchestra / Geoffrey Simon

[ Chandos Classics / CD ]

Release Date: Sunday 6 March 2005

This item is currently out of stock. It may take 6 or more weeks to obtain from when you place your order as this is a specialist product.

'When this recording was originally issued on LP I compared it with all previous versions of the work… finding it to be superior with regard to both performance and sound… I remain enthusiastic about this Chandos release, especially in its CD re-issue.'
- Fanfare

'Chandos have reissued on compact disc its memorable 1978 recording with the Zemel Choir and London Symphony Orchestra, under Geoffrey Simon, in which Louis Berkman sings the cantor's part with mellifluous sensitivity.'
- Jewish Chronicle

'Don't expect passionate, rhapsodic outpourings along the lines of 'Schelomo'. Majoring on austerity and restraint, Bloch's Sacred Service (Avodath Hokodeth) post-dates his discovery of a bracing neo-classicism, best exemplified by the Concert grosso No. 1 and Piano Quintet No. 1, minor masterpieces we ought to hear more often. Apart from the language of its ritual, the Sacred Service often sounds like Vaughan Williams. The music is four-square and at times obsessively contrapuntal, yet the scoring has a deftness and luminosity that may come as a surprise.'
Gramophone

Tracks:

Sacred Service (Avodath Hakodesh) To Gerald Warburg

Part I
Meditation (Prelude) - Ma tovu - Borechu - Shema Yisroel - Ve'ohavto - Mi Chomocho - Tzur Yisroel

Part II
Kedusha (Sanctification)

Part III
Silent Devotion (Prelude) and Response - Yiy'yu lerotzon - Se'u she'orim - Taking the Scroll from the Ark (Interlude) - Toroh tzivoh - Shema Yisroel - Lechoh Adoshem

Part IV
Returning the Scroll to the Ark - Gad'lu Ladoshem - Hodo al eretz - Toras Adoshem - Eitz Chayim (Peace Song)

Part V
Va'anachnu (Adoration) - Bayom Hahu - Tzur Yisroel - Kaddish (Memorial Service) - Adon Olom - Yevorechechoh Adoshem (Benediction)