Bloch Nigun for Violin from Baal Shem (Fischer)

Ernest Bloch, Nigun (Improvisation) No. 2 for Violin from Baal Shem (Fischer Edition) arranged for violin and piano In 1923, Ernest Bloch composed a three-movement suite "Baal Shem (Three Pictures of Chassidic Life)" which he dedicated to his mother. Nigun (Improvisation) is the second movement of this suite. The Baal Shem Tov was the legendary founder of Chassidism which aimed to reinvigorate Jewish life by emphasizing emotion, joy, and mysticism rather than only rationalism, learning and ritual. The three movements of Bloch's suite, Vidui (contrition), Nigun (singing or improvisation) and Simhat Torah (rejoicing for the giving of the Torah) are all in a distinctively Jewish idiom and capture something of the Jewish search for God. The emotion and spirituality of this music are open to all.