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CHAPTER IV
INSTRUCTION IN FUGUE
Bloch included in the collection of his didactic
writings three sections pertaining to the study of fugue.
The earliest of these--indeed perhaps the oldest of any
portions in the collection--is a group of fugal exercises
written by Bloch's students about 1920, among them Ses-
sions, Thompson, and Porter. Thus it may be considered the
collection's most significant part as well: the exercises
appear in the writing of the respective students, so that
we have in one folder not only manuscripts representative
of Bloch's teaching, but a body of autographs by eminent
twentieth-century American composers.
The second of the three volumes dates from the same
period. Bloch collected the examples from the student manu-
scripts in a volume he designated as Fugue I in order to
illustrate certain principles of fugal technique. In April
of 1943, he entered several analytical st1dies of fugues
from the Well-Tempered Clavier in this volume under the ti-
tle "Studies in Configuration." The third volume on fugue,
dating from 1950, was possibly Bloch's last addition to the
261
262
entire collection. It is entitled Additional Fugue Ibis,
and it contains a number of fugue themes of Bloch's own
writing.
While all three volumes illustrate the view of
Bloch's instruction in fugue, it is the group of exercises
gathered from students that merits the greatest attention.
The autographs included are by students of varying stature.
The authorship of one manuscript is uncertain; but the
others are either signed, or the names are marked in
Bloch's hand. Isabel H. Swift, "Mr. Lewis," "Mr. Bohm,"
and "Miss Groschke" are musicians about whom apparently
nothing is known. Herbert Elwell and Theodore Chanler
achieved a measure of prominence as composers in their day,
and produced works which may be familiar to modern audi-
ences. The remaining names are those of composers whose
place in the history of American music is assured--Quincy
Porter, Roger Sessions, and Randall Thompson. Only the man-
uscript of the latter is dated, "Fall, 1920." This corres-
ponds to Bloch's annotation on the cover of the folder:
"(1920) New York ... (Cleveland?)." But like the dating of
many other of the early documents in the collection, this
was probably added at a much later time, and Bloch appar-
ently no longer recalled the precise circumstances under
which the contents of the folder were written.
In the early months of 1920, Bloch was living in
New York City and had been appointed to assume the
263
directorship of the Cleveland Institute in the Fall. Dur-
ing most of his residency in New York, which began in 1916,
he served on the faculty of the newly-established Mannes
School, but he was also involved in various other activi-
ties, which included private instruction in composition.
Bloch received pupils in his Lexington Avenue apartment on
a regular basis until his departure for Cleveland, and con-
tinued to teach privately upon arriving at the Institute.
Even in the year following the new appointment he returned
to New York frequently enough to give periodic lessons to
pupils still in the area. For some of the students repre-
sented by manuscripts in the folder, the association with
Bloch e g ~ n at a relatively early time and was restricted
to New York; others started their studies in New York but
followed Bloch to Cleveland; for still others the first
meeting with Bloch may have been at the Institute. All of
them were members of Bloch's studio between 1919 and 1921,
and this period may be taken to represent a valid estimate
for the origin of all of the manuscripts.
The state in which they now appear reveals much
about Bloch's pedagogical method. Initially the student
was assigned to compose a number of fugue themes. Bloch
reviewed this work and handed it back, complete with writ-
ten commentary. The student was then expected to make cor-
rections and to return to Bloch a clean copy on which the
original themes, Bloch's criticism, and the subsequent
264
revisions were all notated afresh. It is this fair copy
which is now part of the collection.
The copying and recopying of material in these
various stages may at first seem needlessly laborious; but
Bloch had a specific reason: he established a running re-
cord of the student's work. That the completed assignments
were not returned to the student may also seem unusual.
Yet here too, there is an explanation. Assuming the re-
vised themes were satisfactory, the manuscript needed to
change hands only three times and could remain in the
possession of the teacher since all information contained
in the final copy was also preserved in the drafts which
led up to it.
At a later date, possibly in anticipation of new
teaching responsibilities at the Institute, Bloch decided
on a plan of using these examples by students as the basis
for a systematic discussion of fugal technique that even-
tually resulted in the volume entitled Fugue I (see below,
pp. 316 ff.) He may have collected the manuscripts from
students specifically for this purpose; or he returned with
this idea in mind at some later date to manuscripts already
at hand. In either case, it is clear that Bloch regarded
the exercises as more than completed assignments; they were
documents in their own right, and his decision to preserve
them marks the beginning of the extended process that led
to the wealth of the total collection.
265
Bloch made an annotation on the cover of the folder
in which the manuscripts are contained:
Fugue (Examples--from pupils)
I. Swift - Sessions - Porter - R. Thompson -
Th. Chanler - Elwell - etc .
In the course of collecting the material, he apparently
inserted another, smaller folder, among the exercises; this
second folder contains several pages of work by some of the
same students. Bloch wrote on its cover:
Fugue
divertimento modulation
/ /
(structure generale)
He may have originally intended that papers contained in
the smaller folder, distinct from the other manuscripts,
would be devoted to the study of structural aspects of
fugal writing, including questions of episodes and harmonic
outline, but no such distinction is evident in the contents
of the folders as they are presently arranged.
Examples by Herbert Elwell
In discussing the exercises by the different
students, it is best to begin with the work of Herbert
Elwell as the one most clearly representing the typical
working process shown in the manuscripts. Elwell used a
double leaf of staff paper, measuring 13 1/4 by 10 1/4
inches. He began (fol. 1 v) by writing out, evidently from
266
the manuscript on which he had first submitted the assigned
studies, six of his own fugue themes along with commentary
by Bloch. On fol. 2 r Elwell made revisions of the earlier
work ("Corrections.") based on Bloch's criticism. Elwell's
name is entered at the bottom of fol. 2 r in Bloch's hand.
Three marks added by Bloch on the second folio
require further explanation. Two of these appear in the
example on the second system: a vertical line in the third
measure between the first and second beats and a question
mark to the right of the example; the third is the horizon-
tal line in the fourth system above measures 4-6 of the
exercise. Bloch obviously entered these marks, which are
in orange pencil, after the student had completed the
assigned studies. Similar marks are found fairly often in
the manuscripts and clearly represent further comment by
Bloch. He may have taken the student through a brief study
of the revisions when the completed assignment was submit-
ted, or, more likely, they were made at some later date,
possibly when Bloch reviewed the manuscripts to select
examples for the contents of Fugue I.
The first of Elwell's original examples appears in
the uppermost system of fol. 1 v. Bloch comments on two
particular aspects of the fugal subject: he uses a mark
(X) to indicate that the downbeats in the first two meas-
ures of the subject need an "accent"; and he notes that the
c in the third measure of the theme is "too final." Elwell
267
makes the corresponding corrections in the first system,
fol. 2 r. Bloch also remarks on the fugal answer Elwell
had introduced in the fifth measure of the original
exercise:
Wrong answer. Answer should be in G.
Initially, Elwell had written the answer in the subdominant
f; this is also corrected in the revision.
In the second of Elwell's exercises, Bloch points
out that the subject is not correctly written with regard
to metrical accent. He draws a vertical line in the first
measure between the third and fourth beats with the remark:
"Bar begins here." Elwell makes the correction by notating
the subject with the bar-lines moved accordingly. In doing
so, however, he also moves the trill which had appeared on
the upbeat to the third measure of the original version to
the downbeat of the third measure. This incongruous use of
ornamental accent, in turn, prompted Bloch's markings in
orange pencil in the second system, fol. 2 r.
In examining Elwell's third exercise (third system)
Bloch mentions that the beginning of the subject emphasizes
"V" of e " minor, and he again notes:
Wrong answer. Answer should be in bf instead of ap
Elwell corrects this on the adjoining page.
The fourth system on fol. 1 v is empty. Elwell
268
only recorded Bloch's comment ("Swiss Music Box") and adds
"No corrections." This refers to the corresponding system
on fol. 2 r, containing Elwell's fourth exercise. But upon
examining this example a second time, Bloch apparently did
take exception to some aspect of Elwell's writing, as indi-
cated by the horizontal line (in orange pencil) above meas-
ures 4-6. As is explained in the comment on one of the
subsequent examples, it is best not to emphasize the domi-
nant prior to the entrance of the answer.
Bloch noticed a "Repetition" in the original ver-
sion of Elwell's fifth exercise. In the second measure,
, suggesting "V," resolves to a, as it also does in the
fourth measure. Then, for a third time on this page, Bloch
turns his attention to the matter of the fugal answer. He
enters a "V I" in the fifth measure, pointing out the ton-
al function of the new key for the answer which, however,
is not appropriately introduced in the upper voice. Elwell
corrects the example on the adjoining page.
In the sixth example on fol. 1 v, Bloch uses "V" to
show that the entrance of the answer is again awkwardly
anticipated by the dominant harmony; he further notes that
when the answer does come in, both voices form an open
octave. Elwell's seventh example, on fol. 2 r
without a corresponding draft on fol. 1 v, was apparently
newly-written when he submitted the completed assignment.
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271
Examples by Randall Thompson
In examining Elwell's exercises, Bloch directed his
greatest attention to the details of the fugal answer. But
this emphasis does not apply to all of the student manu-
scripts, for the type of exercise differed from student to
student. ~ all cases, we may be dealing with a choice
made from a larger amount of material.) The manuscript of
Randall Thompson, for example, is concerned primarily with
the fugal subject.
Thompson wrote out his exercises on a double leaf.
(Each page measures 14 5/8 by 10 5/8 inches.) For the most
part, the contents of the manuscript correspond to the pro-
cedure described: Thompson began by copying out his orig-
inal fugal subjects, along with Bloch's criticism, from an
earlier manuscript; in the process, he made revisions of
some of the subjects and finally gave the fair copy to
Bloch.
There is, however, a situation which requires
further comment. It seems that in entering his remarks in
the manuscript which Thompson had first submitted, Bloch
occasionally made (and remarked upon) his own revisions.
Thompson included these in compiling the fair copy. Thus,
in some cases one finds commentary by Bloch in Thompson's
hand for both the original and the corrected versions of a
subject. Furthermore, as he had done in Elwell's
272
manuscript, Bloch entered a number of additional marks in
Thompson's fair copy (in this instance in pencil or red
ink) which served to expand upon the criticism formulated
earlier.
Thompson's first example is notated atop fol. 1 r.
(He numbered his examples at the left-hand margin; the
revised version of a given theme usually appears either
alongside the original, or in the staff directly below
it.) In this instance, Thompson apparently submitted two
versions of the fugal subject at the outset. Bloch evi-
dently stated his preference for the first: "has more
character."
He then commented on Thompson's second exercise:
ends on weak beat
Thompson made a revision to the right of the original
subject. At some point Bloch added a mark ( ~ in red ink
above the final note in both the first and the second
versions to stress the difference.
In commenting on the third exercise, Bloch was
quite specific about the necessary changes in the theme:
cut out 3rd measure and first note.
He also remarked "cf. Schubert C major!," referring to the
opening of Schubert's ninth symphony. Thompson entered the
revision in the staff directly below. The third example
273
again contains additional markings in red ink. In the
original version, Bloch circled the first note, and used
brackets above the second and third measures to emphasize
the awkward melodic repetition in the subject. In review-
ing the revised version, Bloch must have questioned the
metric notation of the subject, as is shown by the differ-
ent barring; and at the end of the exercise are entered the
first three notes of the fugal answer.
Bloch comments on the fourth exercise that there is
"too much V." Added (in red ink) is the related comment
"delayed end." The criticism refers to the lack of harmo-
nic motion at the end of the example, which literally de-
lays the return to the tonic and prevents a concise ending.
Thompson makes the appropriate corrections in the staff
below.
Bloch's comment for the fifth exercise is directed
specifically to the third measure of the subject: "not
interesting." A revision of the theme, likely suggested by
Bloch, appears to the right of the original with renewed
reference to the orchestral literature:
but cf St. Saens piano concerto in G
He suggested a revision of Thompson's sixth fugal subject
("try this"). For examples 7 and 8, the last two entries
on fol 1 r, Bloch evidently required no corrections. He
did, however, add a later marking in pencil over the last
274
two measures of the seventh example, showing the larger
harmonic structure of the theme.
Thompson's ninth example appears atop fol. 1 v,
with the remark:
too long more a fugato
Bloch criticized the tenth exercise on the same grounds:
"too long." In both cases, Thompson shortened the subject.
In the original version of the tenth exercise, Bloch added
to the fair copy a vertical line (in pencil) in the fourth
measure, to emphasize the excessive length of the original
theme.
For the eleventh example, the comment is directed
at the pointed recurring use of the tone a and the lack of
rhythmic variety. And Bloch added in pencil small notes be-
low each strong beat in the original subject to stress his
point. In the twelfth example, as he had done in exercise
4 on the preceding page, Bloch criticized the static domi-
nant harmony at the end of the theme: "V--." He later
added an annotation (in pencil) in the second measure of
the theme to show that, in fact, the anticipation of the
dominant begins even earlier than is indicated by the first
marking (in ink; the bracket at the margin is also in
pencil).
Acting on the remark for the thirteenth exercise,
Thompson writes out a shorter version on the staff. In the
275
fourteenth exercise Bloch probably corrected the fugal sub-
ject himself. Initially, he criticized Thompson's theme
because the "ending is too harmonic." This apparently re-
fers to the fact that the final measures of the subject
imply a progression incongruent with the extremely chromat-
ic nature of the theme. Bloch revises the end to suggest a
greater degree of harmonic tension. The end of Thompson's
original subject occurs on the downbeat; Bloch replaces it
with an appoggiatura. Thus, the subject ends on a weak
beat, something which Bloch had dissuaded in the second
exercise (fol. 1 r). In this later example, however, the
melodic configuration at the end of the subject is merely
ornamental, and the tonic harmony arrives, in fact, on the
strong beat. Given this distinction, the melodic resolu-
tion on the weak beat becomes "allowable and good."
Bloch required no written corrections in the fif-
teenth example (fol. 2 r). But he took exception to the
ending which would not accommodate the answer of Thompson's
theme (in itself judged a "good subject").
The sixteenth example proved "too long and dia-
tonic." Thompson entered a revision in the next staff.
Bloch drew a vertical line (in pencil) in the fourth meas-
ure of the corrected version, perhaps to show that the re-
vision was also not concise enough. For the seventeenth
exercise the comment reads:
give more attack to the cV
276
Thompson's correction again appears on the staff below the
original version.
Thompson completed these studies at the bottom of
fol. 2 r with six "Modulating Subjects." Bloch evidently
found fault with only two of these. He commented upon the
second example: "better i n ~ time." (Thompson did not
write out a second version of this theme, apparently be-
cause the revision was self-evident.) In the fifth exer-
cise, the problem of "ending weak" is pointed out with a
mark (X ) calling attention to the repetition of the note
~ . It is not clear if the corrected version of this
subject, given at the end of the staff above, was written
by Thompson, or whether it represents a further instance
where Bloch revised an example himself.
277
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280
Examples by Roger Sessions
The group of exercises by Roger Sessions is similar-
ly devoted to a concentrated study of the fugal subject.
Se$sions gathered these examples according to the same pro-
cedure as discussed above. His fair copy, however, differs
from those of Elwell and Thompson in that Sessions makes no
reference to Bloch's comments on the original subjects; nor
do any annotations from Bloch's hand appear in the manu-
script (with the exception of the entry of the name in the
upper left-hand corner of fol. 1 r).
Thus, in this case we have no explicit record of
the criticism on which the student based his revisions.
Yet the commentary in Thompson's manuscript, which suggests
very specific concerns on Bloch's part regarding the essen-
tials of a well-written fugal subject, can to some extent
explain the corrections in the manuscript by Sessions as
well. For example, Thompson was cautioned to avoid ending
the subject on a weak beat, and Sessions's revision of the
example atop fol. 1 r must have resulted from a similar
remark. In comparing the two versions of Sessions's second
exercise, one is reminded of the numerous instances where
Thompson, presumably prompted by a comment from Bloch,
revised a subject in order to make it more concise. But
there are a number of other, highly instructive changes in
the melodic lines that suggest Bloch's critique, such as
281
the strong sense of articulation imparted to the beginning
of example 14 through the omission of one note.
Sessions's manuscript covers four pages of a double
leaf, measuring 13 1/2 by 10 1/4 inches. He included a
total of twenty-five examples, which are numbered in the
margin. For exercises that needed to be revised, the "cor-
rection" is added either to the right of the original, or
on the staff directly below it; where no revision had been
necessary, Sessions made the notation "no correction." But
this fair copy of fugal subjects is actually only the first
of two manuscripts by Sessions which are preserved among
the contents of the collection. The folder also contains a
single oblong sheet, measuring 10 1/8 by 8 1/8 inches, on
which Sessions wrote three further exercises in fugue. The
name, appearing in the lower left-hand corner of the sheet,
is again in Bloch's hand. In fact, Bloch penciled in a
number of annotations, and as in other manuscripts dating
from the years immediately following Bloch's arrival in
America, one finds remarks in both French and English.
Bloch's notation across the top of the right-hand
half of the page refers to the contents of the oblong
sheet: "subject and countersubject." For each of the
t h r ~ examples, Sessions used a fugal subject from the
first of his manuscripts. Thus, the two manuscripts may
have been part of a larger course of study. Bloch probably
had the student begin with exercises concerned solely with
282
the subject. This could have been followed by an assign-
ment (such as we have in Elwell's manuscript) combining the
subject and the fugal answer. In still another stage of
study, the student would add to a preceding exercise a
newly-written countersubject.
In the first of the examples on the oblong sheet,
Sessions uses his twenty-first exercise from the previous
manuscript (fol. 2 ~ . Bloch made a remark in the upper
left-hand corner:
good if Andante moderato
The example appearing in the center system of the oblong
sheet is based on a second theme from fol. 2 r, exercise
20. In reviewing this exercise, Bloch made some changes in
the lower voice. In the fifth measure he entered the quar-
ter notes e c. He changed the f in the sixth measure to a
quarter so that the following g (circled in pencil) was to
be omitted. The seventh measure was then revised according
to the melodic and rhythmic pattern established in the sixth
measure (see notes between the two staves).
The third example is based on exercise 24 (fol. 2
v). Bloch evidently felt that the subject was too long, as
is indicated by the bracket in the third measure, and he
makes a comment to the effect that the length of the subject
causes particular problems in the countersubject.
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un peu de verbiage! du a la longueur[?] du sujet
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283
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287
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288
Examples by Quincy Porter
The folder containing the student writings includes
two additional manuscripts devoted to the study of "subject
and countersubject," one of which is by Quincy Porter.
Porter gave his examples the heading "Fugue Subjects and
Answers." On fol. 1 r, Bloch made an annotation showing
that his own attention was drawn to another, and indeed,
very distinctive aspect of the t x t u r ~ "(surtout contre-
sujet .
ble] ) .
" . , [the final word of the comment is illegi-
Probably made at a later time, it is Bloch's only
entry in the manuscript.
The manuscript--a double leaf measuring 13 3/4 by
10 5/8 inches--is a fair copy, compiled according to the
established procedure. With the possible exception of one
instance on fol. 1 v, Porter, like Sessions, did not in-
elude the teacher's criticism of the exercises. Yet, the
revision for virtually every example pertains to a single
point that Bloch doubtless stressed in his teaching: a
two-part fugal texture requires an especially careful coor-
dination of the voices; the momentum of the texture must
always be maintained, but at the same time, motion in one
voice should not obscure that in the other.
Porter's first exercise is a case in point. The
original version ("1.") is notated in the uppermost system
on fol. 1 E_; Porter wrote out the revision ("2") directly
289
below it. The correction is in the third measure, where
the melodic activity in the lower voice is increased
against the slower motion in the upper voice.
For the following examples, Porter devised a more
economical means of notating the material; only the correct-
ed version is written out. The comment to the right refers
to the downbeat in the last measure of the second example
(in the original version evidently a quarter note
In the third exercise the correction is concerned
with the fourth measure in the upper voice, and Porter
entered the corresponding measure from the original version
in the staff above ("Formerly"). He followed this method
in most of the subsequent exercises.
The revision for the exercise at the bottom of fol.
1 r is the converse of that in the first example on the
page. Here Porter improved the counterpoint in the penul-
timate measure by making the countersubject simpler.
Porter used all four pages of the manuscript in
copying his exercises. One occasionally finds examples,
such as that appearing on the third system of fol. 1 for
which apparently no revisions were required. But in most
of the remaining exercises, he revised and rewrote material
as he had done on the page of the manuscript. The
example entered in the last two systems of fol. 1 v consti-
tutes the exception in which Porter seems to have made a
record of his teacher's criticism. The annotation above
290
the seventh measure indicates that in the original version
the third note in the fugal answer was dq. The comment
that the note was changed to ~ because of the "effect on
the following c" probably came from Bloch.
291
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295
Examples by Theodore Chanler
There remains the group of exercises by one more of
Bloch's prominent pupils, Theodore Chanler. Like the manu-
scripts submitted by the other students, Chanler's manu-
script is a fair copy. Particular evidence of this appears
at the bottom of fol. 2 r, where Chanler labels the final
exercises "nouveau"; one may conclude that Bloch had seen
all other examples in conjunction with a previous version.
In other respects, however, Chanler's manuscript represents
a departure from the established procedure. In compiling a
fair copy, he wrote each example only once and gave no
indication as to revisions that may have been made in the
course of completing the studies; nor did he include any
reference to commentary by Bloch. Possibly, as the appear-
ance of the handwriting occasionally suggests, Chanler was
working in haste. In fact, in two cases Bloch himself had
to correct rather obvious errors in notation: the time
signature for the sixth exercise, and the clef for the
twelfth. (These, along with the name in the upper right-
hand corner of fol. 1 r, are Bloch's only entries in the
manuscript.) It might be added that Chanler was the young-
est of the students represented so far--probably only
eighteen when the assignment was undertaken.
Chanler's exercises are also exceptional in another
respect: the remarkable individuality of his writing. His
296
examples are often characterized by rather long phrases,
and by the use of large melodic skips and unusual rhythmic
configurations. He was also meticulous in providing
expressive indications at the beginning of each example.
Chanler wrote out a total of twenty-four exercises
over three pages of a double leaf measuring 13 5/8 by 10
1/2 inches. His examples generally contain, along with the
subject, all or part of the fugal answer, sometimes desig-
nated with the abbreviations "res." or "resp." For one of
the exercises on fol. 2 E' we are afforded somewhat more of
a substantial view of steps leading to the completion of
the examples. In exercise 23, Chanler, possibly with
Bloch's criticism of previous examples in mind, notes above
the third measure "est-ce de trop?" Apparently answering
his own question, he then crossed out the measure himself.
297 1
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ID ! ) ,Fj h9 I .'' ,I If ,I "
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298
1
299
Chanlen--fioi 2
300
Examples by other students
There is another group of exercises pertaining to
the study of the fugal countersubject in a manuscript by a
pupil whom Bloch identifies as Miss Groschke. It is one of
several manuscripts submitted by students who were not to
achieve notable prominence. We are dealing with three exer-
cises on an oblong double leaf under the heading:
Subject, Answer & Countersubject for Fugue of 2 voices.
The pages of the manuscript measure 10 1/2 by 6 3/4 inches.
The manuscript is again a fair copy, containing
original versions, revisions, and commentary. The melodic
writing is often awkward, as is much of the counterpoint.
The student was also oblivious to certain elementary mat-
ters, such as marking the appropriate accidentals in a modu-
lation. Judging from the recorded commentary, Bloch found
it impossible to address himself to all the flaws. The
question mark in the upper right-hand corner of fol. 1 r
may, in fact, represent his summary reaction to the stu-
dent's work.
Yet, while not an especially talented pupil, she
clearly pursued her studies very conscientiously. She was
quite thorough in noting Bloch's criticism of her examples,
and her manuscript offers an apparently complete record of
Bloch's remarks given verbally. In the first example she
301
placed one bracket above the third measure, and another
above measures 5-6, designating them as "(a)" and ''(b),"
respectively, in reference to the remarks written out at
the bottom of the page.
(a) The three A flats are too prominent and give a
stiff stilted character. By shortening one of them
an agreeable, smooth change of rhythm is effected.
(b) In a fugue of but two voices there must be
considerable movement. This is lacking here. By
substituting four sixteeth [sic] notes for the
quarter, and removing the high A flat which has just
been heard in the previous measure a smoother and
more flowing motion is obtained.
Bloch added some annotations in pencil. A special
mark ( 1 ) appears variously below the upper voice of the
original version, measures 2-3. We have an explicit
indication as to the meaning of this mark in Fugue I (see
p. 319); there Bloch uses this fugal subject as an example,
and a series of such markings is associated with the corn-
rnent "too regular rhythm." This also seems to explain cer-
tain annotations in red ink on fol. 1 r. Bloch's comment
above the uppermost system ("sujet & contresujet") suggests
his intention to include this subject among the examples in
Fugue I. The word between the two staves in the second
measure may read "monotony," possibly another reference to
the rhythmic motion at that point in the exercise.
In her second exercise (fol. 1 v), the designations
in the original version "(a)" and "(b)" correspond again to
302
remarks at the bottom of the page:
(a) Subject is longer than necessary.
(b) Dissonance on accented beat rarely used by Bach.
The corrected version of the exercise begins midway in the
second system and is concluded in the third system.
The final example appears on fol. 2 r. The remarks
entered here for "(a)" and "(b)" are written out on the
following page, and they suggest that in this case Bloch
may have been commenting on revisions he had made himself:
(a) Although this ending is possible the one in the
corrected version has more motion and more of the
character of the rest of the subject.
(b) Changing this chord necessitated changing the
entire countersubject and improving it. The
counterpoint of the corrected version is simpler and
has more design than the first one.
303
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304
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306
Isabel H. Swift, another of Bloch's students not
otherwise known, submitted to Bloch a group of three
exercises on a double leaf, measuring 12 3/4 by 10 5/8
inches. The manuscript is a fair copy, on which are
written both the original and revised versions of the
examples. No annotations appear from Bloch's hand, nor are
there explicit references included to criticsm he might
have made.
This manuscript is notable, however, because its
contents reflect a more advanced stage of study. The
critical emphasis represented in the other manuscripts is
on details of melodic and contrapuntal writing. But in
these exercises there is a concern with larger musical
structure. The first exercise appears on fol. 1 r. The
student (using orange pencil here and in several other
spots) entered a horizontal line above the second full
measure of the "Original theme," presumably to indicate
that when Bloch first saw the theme, this measure had been
a point of criticism. (Indeed, in the revised version the
measure is omitted.) Directly below the original theme,
she wrote out a "Plan," the details of which in fact corres-
pond to the harmonic structure of the subsequent revision:
the revision begins in i minor; the fugal answer in the
third and fourth measures is in c minor, and this leads in
measures 6-7 to g minor, and the third fugal entrance.
Finally, there is a note pertaining to the countersubject:
307
Countersubject changed when used as an upper voice.
The remark is particularly interesting since the countersub-
ject does not actually appear in the upper voice of the
exercise; it attests to how thoroughly the student had
explored her material prior to completing the assignment.
If the original form of the countersubject is stated above
the subject, there results an awkward minor ninth on the
second beat in the first full measure of each fugal entry,
which may explain why she found the alteration necessary.
An emphasis on structural considerations is even
more evident in the example on fol. 1 v. The original
subject was entered at the top of the page. A revision,
which extends the subject by three measures, appears in or-
ange pencil to the right, and the student's comment ("your
addition") shows that this was a revision made by Bloch.
Beneath the original theme, there are alternate versions
for the harmonic structure of the exercise, with a prefer-
ence noted for the first. The student then wrote out the
fugal subject (revised according to Bloch's suggestion) and
the corresponding answer, along with a diagram for each of
the three ''plans." She also indicated whatever changes in
melodic writing the respective harmonic schemes required.
In the original v r ~ i o n of the third exercise
(fol. 2 r) the student again drew a horizontal line in
orange pencil (above measures 8-10) to mark a portion of
308
the subject which needed to be revised. And as in the pre-
ceding example, she wrote out the corrected version of the
subject and the fugal answer, complete with markings that
refer to a specified harmonic design.
309
1

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312
The scope of these exercises was limited to the
exposition of two fugal voices, so that the examples repre-
sent only the initial stages of inquiry into fugal struc-
ture. But it is clear that in a natural continuation of
this course of study, the student would tgke up assignments
in progressively larger structural contexts leading to the
writing of complete fugues. In fact, such a structural
range is documented in the four remaining student
manuscripts.
The first of these--written on an oblong sheet
measuring 10 1/8 by 8 1/8 inches--contains an exercise of
two voices entitled Fuga a moll. The fugue, written by an
anonymous pupil, covers both sides of the sheet and is
twenty-one measures in length. Bloch identified the writer
of the second manuscript as Mr. Bohm. This student's exer-
cise, on a single 13 1/4 by 10 1/2 inch sheet, is a fugue
of twenty-eight measures. He seems to have been a gifted
pupil, though inexperienced, as is suggested by the awkward-
ness of the handwriting, as well as by some obvious lapses
in melodic construction.
The final two manuscripts (both reproduced below
and originally appearing on single sheets measuring 13 1/8
by 10 1/2 inches) were written, according to Bloch's indi-
cation, by Herbert Elwell and a student identified as Mr.
Lewis. The two students used for their assignments the
313
same fugal subject. No indication is given as to whether
either of them wrote the theme. Bloch used this subject
later as an example in Fugue I, but there he says only that
it is "from a pupil." Yet the subject also turns up in a
third manuscript: as is described in the chapter on
Bloch's contrapuntal writings, he included in the fourth of
his counterpoint notebooks a number of sketches, among
which appears this particular subject (see p. 172).
There is a close similarity between the exercises
from the two students with regard to harmonic structure.
Moreover, it appears as almost certain that these two
sheets were, at one time, joined as a double leaf. The
circumstances suggest that Bloch gave the students the same
assignment--based on the same fugal subject and the same
structural "plan." But each student chose his individual
way in completing the assignment. To Lewis, in particular,
goes the credit of a rather fine effort in fugal writing.
314 v
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316
Fugue I
At some point after gathering the student manu-
scripts, Bloch undertook the project of incorporating their
contents in a more formal presentatibn of fugal technique.
He copied a number of examples from the manuscripts--as
well as from other assignments that evidently did not
remain in his possession--into the volume entitled Fugue I,
supplementing this material with commentary.
Bloch did not actually provide a dating for Fugue
I. But there is evidence that it may have followed soon
upon the collecting of the student manuscripts--about 1921.
Bloch's writings from this time include three other major
pedagogical compilations, La Forme musicale, Applied Har-
mony, and Strict III Part-counterpoint. Many of the physi-
cal details of these three documents correspond to those of
Fugue I: the handwriting is much the same in the four
volumes; and in each case, the volume itself is a manu-
script book in which single sheets of music paper are bound
alternately with unlined leaves. Thus, it appears that in
1921-22, no doubt prompted by responsibilities involved in
his new position as Director of the Cleveland Institute,
Bloch compiled Lhe first formal record of his instruction.
It embraces all the disciplines with which his didactic
writings were to deal more comprehensively in later years.
317
Bloch made an entry on the cover of Fugue I:
Fugue (Notes) (from pupils and myself)
Subject--Answer--Structure etc. Analysis
The manuscript book measures 10 3/8 by 6 3/4 inches.
Inside the front cover there is an index, in which the con-
tents of the volume are divided into four sections. The
first of these sections consists of pages 1-4, and deals
with the study of the fugal subject. (In Bloch's pagina-
tion, each sheet of music paper and the plain sheet adja-
cent to it are given a single page number.)
318 Fugue_ I --p. 1
;;
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<" J rl gp J=nJ:? : f11, --
319
Fugue 1--p. 2
F 1 Q q
9
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320
Fugue. I--p. 3
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322
The considerable emphasis which Bloch placed on the
study of the fugal subject represents a fundamental aspect
of his teaching of fugue. Suzanne Bloch has written:
His students of fugue know how long he kept them
writing fugue themes and not allowing them to go
further until they had mastered the principles of
form, balance, life, and expression within a few
measures. Then they could apply the same principles
to larger forms.
In the first two pages of Fugue I, Bloch addresses himself
to a problem in fugal writing that had been a point of evi-
dent concern in the student manuscripts; he refers to it
here as "Lack of Concision." He observes that there are
two factors which contribute to this problem. The first of
these is illustrated in the initial two examples on page
1--designated as <D n d ~ , respectively. In both examples,
prior to the actual conclusion of the subject there is an
emphatic arrival on the tonic, and in his revisions Bloch
shortens the subject so as to make the melodic and harmonic
structure coincide. For the first exercise, by a student
identified as Miss Backlee, Bloch marks the arrival of the
tonic with an " " and the subject is revised accordingly.
No indication is given as to the author of the second
exercise, but it is quite similar to a theme appearing in
Sessions's manuscripts. Bloch again makes a mark ("(&)") to
indicate the arrival of the tonic, and he uses parentheses
showing which portion of the subject should be excised. He
evidently also took exception to the metrical placement of
323
the subject, and he adds this comment to the revised
version:
It would be better too, to write it that way.
Bloch uses the third, fourth, and fifth exercises
to illustrate the second factor contributing to the exces-
sive length of the subject: "delayed conclusion." Here,
in contrast to the preceding examples, the arrival of the
tonic comes too late to permit concise ending to the melod-
ic line. Bloch revised the third example so that the harmo-
nies in measures 4-5 of the original theme were condensed
in a single measure. In the fourth example, which was evi-
dently written by Mark Brunswick, the brackets below the fi-
nal measures correspond to Bloch's comment "Too long con-
elusion!" (The horizontal lines above the staff emphasize
an awkward repetition in the melodic line.) A revision was
undertaken, in which the fourth measure was eliminated.
But Bloch then noted:
too short now, lack of balance.
In a second revision, at the bottom of page 1, the original
proportions of the theme are restored, though the melodic
repetition is removed. The fifth exercise (appearing at
the top of page 2) was taken from an assignment for Miss
Groschke. Bloch uses parentheses to indicate the "delayed
conclusion," and he further takes exception to the use of
324
"two strong points (l) ." Both of these problems are cor-
rected in the revision.
Bloch judged the sixth and seventh examples (also
on page 2) "awkward." The first of these is by the same
student as the preceding one ("ibid."), and Bloch remarks
about the original version:
Rather awkward motif, on account of the A ~ perhaps
or too regular rhythm .
On the next staff the subject is
corrected, with a very simple change of rhythm!
The seventh exercise is by Sessions, in whose manuscript
only the revised version of this example had appeared; yet
both this and what must have been the original version, are
represented here. About the latter one, Bloch remarks:
Great monotony (One harmony!)
The remaining examples on page 2 are grouped under the
comment "Wrong notations Rhythm."
The section of examples devoted to the study of the
fugal subject is concluded on pages 3-4 of Fugue I. Bloch
notes for the example atop page 3:
Write upbeat motifs.
He uses a mark ~ ) in the fourth measure to indicate the
arrival at the tonic, thus defining the structural ending
325
of the theme. The melodic fragment written out in the sec-
ond staff represents the continuation of the fugal answer
from the top of the page. The remaining examples on page 3
are part of an exercise in which Bloch uses a theme from
the First Book of the Well-Tempered Clavier as a guide for
newly-composed fugal subjects. Bloch writes:
Study Bach subject in (I)
analyze it. ( ... 4 notes
the mode (e natural ... make a few
similar subjects:
On page 4 of Fugue I, Bloch undertakes a series of
revisions on a motif of a pupil. He comments on the
original theme (which appears in the first staff) :
too many Ds! no climax--prepare D
(same range too!)
A first revision, in the second staff, was found to be unsa-
tisfactory because of the ''delayed conclusion!" This prob-
lem was corrected in a second revision, prompting, in turn,
criticism on different grounds: "good, but unbalanced."
For the final version, however, Bloch remarks
excellent (gives harmonic opportunities)
The second of the four sections in Fugue I, com-
mences on page 6 of the volume (page 5 is blank), and it
consists of exercises devoted to the study of the fugal
answer. Bloch begins by establishing a few basic concepts
326
that are, in his words, " . of first importance!"
Initially, he discusses the structure of the fugal answer
"practically," noting that the answer must be sufficiently
related to the subject as to clearly represent the
. same idea (same form)
They are equivalent, in our minds
But he also considers the answer "theoretically"--that is,
he focuses on the deviations in the fugal statement which
are dictated by a change in harmonic context. It follows
that the effectiveness of the answer depends on the recon-
ciliation of these two principles:
(Aesthetically: Thematics = Unity
Tonally= variety (in a very subtle way!)
To illustrate this, Bloch again draws examples from Book I
of the Well-Tempered Clavier to show how Bach preserves the
characteristic melodic features from one fugal statement to
the next, while also allowing for variety dictated by tonal
function. The initial examples are from the ~ minor
fugue.
327 Fugue. I--p. 6
2f $* ..
3' 4k .r
... ,.._'- ~ -- '"'---- ~
328
Fugue. I--p. 7
329
Fugue I--p. 8
"
--, -
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I
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330
At the top of page 6, Bloch writes out the first
statement of both the subject and the answer, and he indi-
cates the particular intervallic structure of each. He
further notes that the answer is "Tonal" in the first two
melodic intervals, and "Real" in those that follow. He
then enters four versions of the fugal theme, all beginning
on the same note, in which the first two intervals of the
subject and countersubject are variously exchanged. As a
result, each version establishes a different tonal context.
Bloch remarks that these versions are "All used by Bach.''
The examples at the bottom of page 6 are from the EP
minor fugue. Again, Bloch shows how the characteristic
features of the main theme are subtly changed.
We, thus, get four possible forms for a similar idea
(leading to 4 diff. keys.[)]
He notes that the subject itself remains within the context
of the tonic, whereas the answer leads from "I to Domi-
nant." A third version, appearing to the left in the low-
est staff, goes from "I to II degree," and a fourth version
connects the tonic and the subdominant. Bloch may have
entered these examples from memory, for he later added a
notation in pencil indicating that actually the third ver-
sion is "not used by Bach."
On page 7 of Fugue I, Bloch selects an example
"from a pupil" to further illustrate the principles in-
volved in the fugal answer. He writes out the subject in
331
the top staff, adding the real answer below it. He then
notes three different versions of a tonal answer to connect
with the conclusion (in minor) of the subject. On the
bottom half of page 7 there appears a comparison of two
versions of a fugal answer for a subject in minor by
Theodore Chanler.
As Bloch makes clear, the construction of a proper
tonal answer involves more than the question of harmonic
context; there is also the matter of identifying which as-
pects of the subject are most characteristic and therefore
to be preserved from one fugal statement to another. He is
emphatic about this point in his commentary to the first
example (identified as by Miss E. G. Hier) on page 8 of
Fugue I, where he remarks about the fugal exposition
entered in the first two systems:
Here is a wrong answer! See the distortion of motif
.Its loss of character--(loss of charact.
intervals)--Uniformity of subject & Answer. Then
(f)---- @ Loss of all possibilities. Furthermore,
poor countersubject
In the third system, Bloch writes out a correction. Then,
in the following staff, he notates the revised answer a
second time (along with the corresponding subject) and
comments:
This correct Answer (Practically Same idea!) gives
us . . all very charact. but different
At the bottom of the page, Bloch variously exchanges the
332
intervals of the fugal subject and answer; he indicates
that each version implies a different harmonic motion.
The contents of Fugue I are continued on pages 9-12
of the volume, with a section of exercises devoted to the
fugal countersubject. Bloch first recommends:
A thorough study of all those of Bach!
He then gives various examples, indicating that some of
them are drawn from students' work.
333
Fugue_ I--p. 9
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334 Fugue I --p. 10

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335
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Fu.gu.e_ I--p. 11
I
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336
Fu.gu.e. I --p. 12
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r
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~
.....:: '
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,.
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.... :
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337
Bloch begins by selecting "a few . . simple"
fugal subjects, written out in the first three staves of
page 9. On the bottom half of the page, he uses the first
of these subjects as the basis for a two-voice fugal exposi-
tion with a countersubject. He then adds an alternate ver-
sion of the countersubject ("or x").
In the example in the first two systems of page 10
("Miss Hier") Bloch notes that the momentum of the exercise
stops in the third measure, and comments further, with
reference to the marks (X):
monotony A ~ ! ) same range
The series of vertical lines in the fourth measure is
explained by an additional remark: "too harmonic!" A
corrected version is entered in the third system, and Bloch
mentions in particular that the tied rhythm in the first
measure of the revised countersubject--also indicated with
a mark (X)--is "more living." The example on the bottom
half of page 10 is evidently by the same student. The sub-
ject appears in a single staff, and the answer and counter-
subject are sketched in the following system. Bloch had
previously referred to this (on page 8 of Fugue I) as a
"poor countersubject." Here, he uses marks to point out
the specific problems. The countersubject is revised in
the lowest system and Bloch remarks: "more individuality
and contrast."
338
In the exercises appearing on the first two systems
of page 11, Bloch again uses marks to indicate particular
difficulties. Those in the fourth and fifth measures refer
to a melodic repetition, while the horizontal line above
measure 7 is presumably intended to point out awkward part
writing. A revision is entered in the third system. The
example on the lower half of the page received the comment
"Difficult subject!" In considering a first fugal exposi-
tion using the subject (next to last system), Bloch was
clearly by the conflict of g and in the third
measure. His revision, involving an especially interesting
countersubject, appears in the final system. On page 12 of
Fugue I, Bloch introduces a modulating subject, and in con-
secutive staves, writes out five versions of a
countersubject.
Page 13 of the manuscript book is blank. On page
14 begins the last of the four constituent sections of
Fugue I, which is concerned with the study of "General
Structure." As he had done in preceding pages of the
volume, here Bloch uses excerpts from the Well-Tempered
Clavier as a point of departure for his discussion. In
this case, he illustrates a number of basic concepts by
mean3 of an analytical study of the major fugue from
Bach's First Book.
339
Fu.gu.e_ I--p. 14
__ -,
.B b

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I 11J l1

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I
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l

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340
Bloch commences his study of the ~ P major fugue by
examining tonal possibilities inherent in various versions
of the main theme.
Observe first. structure of subject, notes and key
" " Answer " "
possibilities of mixed combinations
(keys where they lead)
In the upper staves of page 14, Bloch writes out three
forms of the fugal theme: the subject, he notes, remains
in the tonic (according to German usage, "B" standing for
B ~ ; the answer, appearing in the second staff, leads from
tonic to dominant; a "mixed" version establishes a subdomi-
nant relationship between the beginning and the end of the
fugal statement.
On the unlined page adjacent to the musical
examples, Bloch enters a schematic diagram illustrating the
fugue's general structure.
341
~ ~ . . ~ Z f __ ---- -- ~ : .
.-.-...--......... '._ ______ ......... -
I'
!I
,.

(j) Fl1
Ei>
\
\ \ \
E
I
i
I J
I
\
'.
'
l
Jot
,, , ,. ..
~
'1>1 - - . . , I
,,
-----=-- F
..
The three strata of the diagram illustrate the entire
length of the fugue. The arabic numbers noted below each
of them refer to the measure numbers. The horizontal lines
represent the individual voices of the three-part fugal
texture. The vertical lines stand for bar-lines.
Bloch draws slurs connecting specific points of the
horizontal lines, and these indicate the various statements
of the principal subject. Appearing at the beginning of
every slur is a small, circled arabic number, corresponding
to a numbering given alongside the three versions of the
main theme on page 14. By this means Bloch shows which
version is then being stated in the fugal texture. He also
enters letters illustrating the harmonic motion involved in
each statement.
342
One can see from the diagram that the fugue in-
eludes two sections that are episodic in nature--one in
measures 17-21, the other in measures 30-36. These two
passages, which Bloch refers to as "transitions," command
his most detailed attention. In the diagram, Bloch desig-
nates (in blue pencil) the two transitions with larger,
circled arabic numbers, which in turn are to be associated
with the analyses appearing on the bottom half of page 14.
He begins by examining
Transition (!) From F to g minor
The material written out on the system directly
below this remark is an analytical sketch for the first
transition, with a sequence of whole notes representing the
fundamental motion of the bass in measures 17-21--a descent
by sequence of fifths from i to g. Bloch indicates, how-
ever, that from a practical point of view, this scheme
would be "too short" in proportion to the rest of the
fugue; thus, he shows with a sketch to the right in this
system that, in actuality, Bach extends this bass motion by
"prolongation" in measures 17-19. Bloch's comment reads:
(Bach uses the end of motif [i.e. the sixteenth
notes concluding the fugal subject-- minor, measure
17], repeats it one degree higher [g-minor, measure
18] and from there g, in a regular sequence down to
V of g [measure 20])
In the next two systems of page 14, Bloch presents
343
a similar abstract of the second transition. The fundamen-
tal bass motion for measures 30-37--a descent, again by
sequence of fifths, from c to eb --appears to the left, and
Bloch again remarks "too short!" He then gives a sketch
illustrating the way in which this second transition is
also extended in the actual fugue. The sketch shows that
in measures 30-32 the end of the motif is stated sequen-
tially in the middle register. This melodic fragment is
then transferred to the upper register in measures 33-34,
followed by a truncated statement of the fugal theme in
measure 35 (in c minor), and leading finally to the fugal
entry in E major, measure 37. Bloch summarizes this ex-
planation in the bottom staff of page 14, showing that the
second transition consists, in fact, of two portions, both
of which move through a circle of fifths: from c to g in
measures 30-33; from g to ebin measures 33-37.
Pages 15-16 of Fugue I are blank; Bloch may have
been reserving this space to include additional analytical
studies, for when the examination of general structure re-
sumes on page 17 of the volume, his concern is no longer
with analysis per se; rather, the principles gathered from
his analysis are applied to the outline of an original
fugue which is follcwed on page 18 and 19 by two similar
studies.
344
Fugue I --p. 17

' l d 1 1 l Ji q l J
-
I I I I f
1/
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"
I
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t
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tr r....-
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7
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7 ... -
I
345 Fugue. I--p. 18
,,

.... __..,.
, . "
+
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-
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e.,


rrw l

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346 Fugue. I --p. 79
~
. ~
-
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3
347
Bloch begins atop page 17 by writing out a fugal
subject and answer in C major. Below this appears a draft
for a fugue of twenty-seven measures. On the unlined sheet
adjacent to this material, Bloch entered a schematic dia-
gram that was probably made in preparation for the writing
of the fugue itself.
c-
,,..
-
,.,
'
- - r ~ ~
The exercise proceeds as indicated by the diagram. The
exposition is followed by an episode in measures 7-9
("Tr.I"). Fugal entries return in measure 10, leading then
to a second episode ("Tr.II," measures 16-20). The draft
is concluded with a final statement of the fugal material,
beginning in measure 21, and a projected coda.
On page 18, Bloch presents a similar preliminary
diagram for a fugue in Q major:
-- r
I I y.
] > ~ I
G-,...-... ~
I
1: Jt
I
348
Here too, the structure of the exercise corresponds to de-
tails in the diagram. To the right in the fifth system,
Bloch offers an alternate version of the fifth and sixth
measures in the preceding system, where the final statement
of the main theme appears in the form of the subject rather
than that of the answer. The material entered in the last
system is essentially an elaboration of the second episode
("Tr.II").
In the exercises on pages 17 and 18, Bloch's con-
cern is primarily with general structure. Detailed melodic
writing is restricted, for the most part, to statements of
the fugal theme; episodes are sketched only in no more than
harmonic outline. Once the general plan was established,
however, it was obviously meant to be developed into a full
fugal texture. The example appearing on page 19 was there-
fore apparently intended to illustrate the final stage of
this course of study. It consists of an exposition and (in
measures 5-7) an episode, leading to a second section of
fugal entries in measure 8. The notation at the bottom of
the page is a "Scheme" for the episode. Bloch remarks
above its third measure that he ultimately found it to be
"too short" in context with the surrounding material. In-
terestingly, this particular fugal subject also appears in
two of the four complete fugues that are included among the
student manuscripts--those by Herbert Elwell and Mr. Lewis.
In addition, the pupils followed a structural plan
349
identical with that illustrated by Bloch's exercise. Yet,
in spite of the their fundamental similarities, there re-
mains a vivid and striking distinction between student as-
signments on the one hand, and the work of an experienced
master on the other.
Studies in Configuration
The completion of the four constituent sections of
Fugue I in 1921-22 was followed after two decades by an-
other discussion of fugal technique. The intervening years
formed--for the most part--a hiatus in Bloch's teaching,
and it was only upon taking the appointment at Berkeley, in
1940, that he again turned to writings pertaining to the
study of fugue. Yet there is considerable continuity be-
tween the earlier and later manuscripts, resulting above
all from Bloch's veneration of Bach's works as the paragon
of fugal art. This became even more pronounced in Bloch's
later years: the fugal studies dating from after 1940
consist almost exclusively of analyses of fugues from the
Well-Tempered Clavier.
One group of analytical studies is especially perti-
nent to the present discussion--that entitled "Studies in
Configuration." The significance of these studies has been
examined in the chapter on Bloch's instruction in counter-
point. The "Studies in Configuration" were undertaken in
350
conjunction with a course Bloch taught at Berkeley, and
they consist solely of analyses of works by the great mas-
ters. With his characteristic concern for creating a cen-
tral body of pedagogical documents, Bloch entered these new
analytical notes into the pages of certain volumes dating
from the 1920s. Thus, he appended to Strict III Part-
counterpoint an analysis of a Josquin motet; the contents
of La Forme musicale were supplemented with discussion of
works by Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven; finally, to Fugue I
Bloch added analytical studies of fugal subjects from the
Well-Tempered Clavier. Bloch's examination of this diverse
repertory was based on a unique procedure which distin-
guishes "Studies in Configuration" from what would be
merely analytical notes. In every case, he copied out ex-
cerpts from the literature, deliberately altering certain
features of the writing. By discussing the altered version
of a given passage, he sought to reveal the musical logic
determining the actual form in which the composer had cast
his ideas.
The "Studies in Configuration" included in Fugue I
cover seven pages. They begin on page 20 of the volume,
and there Bloch provides a few introductory remarks:
New Notes (Agate Beach 1943) to be used in
Connection with my Courses in Berkeley--
Studies in Configuration--The essential
Principles--(as applied to "Themes of Fugues")
Motifs of the W.T. Clavichord, distorted
experimentally!
351 Fugue 1--p. 20
/New /tlote.s) !],.._,;._lt;m'l #:j3) lu t-- VU.i- M.-
$/ucfke$ Lik _ 'r!u e_4;Je.
Af.aafo 4- 1/u_ UJ. X wtf '. _ _ .'
(to z, "u.d Col'l '4Q4...e&/A, .. ,m/A my II Etai? :it.q 0,WJc$nz :__
I
J
9fie- flvFr fO I Fr f
" .
352
The initial analytical discussion on page 20 is concerned
with the theme of the C major fugue from Bach's First Book.
At the top of the page, Bloch writes out an example (" (l) ")
in which the final note of the subject (marked with an
" X ") has been altered. He comments:
C) This is bad - Why? Stops at x, after we are
accustomed to a motion and expect, logically, its
continuation . . .
It is corrected in a second version (" ") , and a series
of sixteenth notes is used to maintain the momentum of the
passage. Nevertheless, Bloch marks the example "Still
bad," and he mentions that one might find particular fault
with the ending of the subject on the tonic.
He goes on to condemn this reasoning as "false,"
and to prove his point, he refers to other fugal subjects
which do in fact end on the first degree, such as the f ~
major fugue from Book I:
The C ~ major does--Yes, but it starts with 5th!
and the range is such that the C ~ as tonic,
appears at the end as a new note in place and range
Cf. the C ~ minor! [from book I] Here it starts
with Tonic, ends with Tonic, however, excellent!
Explain ...
Bloch then turns his attentio1'1 (" Q) ") to the E b minor
fugue from Book I.
353
CD Here we have three times the Tonic! Start,
middle, end! Excellent! Let us try to change
it, to understand the reasons:
a) Loses all Character! meas. 2 same range,
monotony!
b) ... I change the end, gb (3d) instead of tonic
e ~ It does not go at all! . ~ is the
best! Thus, do not draw hasty and wrong con-
clusions making a "false rule'' about "End on
Tonic"! It all depends on the Structure, the
Plastic of the motif itself. What is good in one
case, may be bad in another!
354
Fugue. I --p. 21
.

I ; i ' Q l I ; T 17 "ij J I r 1J G I r I

";(.. "---

Gl e;;-;d g::J "1-J;l ! 1
I f:
5
l 1 r& j- JJ. tJ J qt jl
e&J> I
@ cf .
.. r cllli kJ I n:u-1 tL5 I 1
\
. - ....
355
The initial two examples on page 21 refer to the C
major fugue from Book II. For the first of these, Bloch
alters the third and fourth measures of the original sub-
ject, and he criticizes the consequent lack of variety in
the melodic and rhythmic writing. But he adds:
... compare excellent themes, having regular
patterns and similar rhythms!! c min,
(II) D (II) etc.
In the second example, only the penultimate measure differs
from the subject, but Bloch notes that precisely in this
measure the momentum of the example "stops!"
Examples 3-6 on page 21 are concerned with the C
minor fugue from Book I. Bloch makes these comments:
. very bad! Beckmesser! Why?
This is "almost" Bach! Only two notes differ!
However, very poor ... Why? (Observe lower line
of notes()]
(2) Now, only one note differs! and it is poor ...
Only the end is changed! Cf with Bach and find
the reasons! (rather subtle![)]
In the seventh example on page 21 Bloch examines an altered
version of the subject in C minor from Book II, in which
only the last note is changed (from eb to c). He remarks
that the altered version is weaker because of the repeti-
tion of the note c ("X ") , and becau.3e of the lack of con-
trast resulting from the octave interval between the end of
the altered subject and the beginning of the answer.
At the bottom of page 21 (
11

11
) , Bloch enters an
356
altered version of the C ~ major theme from Book I, and he
also copies out the actual subject.
~ very poor, flat! no character Why? Cf Bach .
and "latent" upper voice ...
He indicates the "upper voice" (the line descending from
~ t f with markings appearing above the system.
. ,
I
; "hlcl,J.
r.J.,,..c 1 :.t
: ITii ..
ILl ...
lol./_'1_

357
Fugue. I--p. 22
r.;-1
J./
1
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; J J J - l?J T ! t _ J

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.JI. I
.A \)h
AI


-
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358
The "Studies in Configuration" are continued on
page 22 of the manuscript book with three examples dealing
with the ~ m i n o r fugue from Bach's second book--in particu-
lar with the second measure of its subject. In a first
exercise, Bloch makes a change in the second measure, but
points out a resulting "lack of contrast," due to the re-
curring tonic harmony. He writes out a second version in
which "only one note differs fr. Bach" (the fR marked with
"X"). But in this case, as is shown in the sketch direct-
ly below the example, the change led to an unsatisfactory
repetition of an ascending melodic pattern. The subsequent
Example (CD) is the actual fugue subject composed by Bach.
Bloch uses a schematic illustration to point out a pair of
fourth skips appearing in the second measure, and in his
commentary he remarks that the melodic fourth is prominent-
ly featured in the fugue as a whole. He further stresses
the variety that is imparted to the theme by means of the
ornamental pattern in measure 2, noting that this pattern
appears frequently throughout the fugal texture as well.
In summary, he remarks:
Every detail counts------for a master!!
The remaining material on page 22 relates to an
examination of the subject from the E minor fugue in Book
II. For the example numbered Q), Bloch's markings point
out a repetitive pattern in the writing, highlighting the
359
rhythmic diversity of the actual subject. As Example 5,
Bloch enters a second altered version of the E minor sub-
ject, in which a melodic detail appearing at the beginning
of the third measure is presented three times in direct
sequence, rendering the example one measure longer than the
actual subject. (In the original, he notes, this figure is
stated "only twice." The annotation "vi de" designates
the added measure.) But Bloch then shows, by means of the
sketch drafted directly below Example 5, the presence
within the actual subject of a "latent line" descending
from c (second measure, fourth beat) to ~ (fifth measure,
fourth beat). He observes that, while his added measure
may follow a certain logic from the standpoint of melodic
sequence, it also creates a "stagnation" which disrupts the
larger structural motion of the subject. He adds that the
eighth notes concluding his altered version of the theme
are "scholastic! pedantic!" in comparison to the triplets
which "bring new life" to the actual subject.
360
361
Atop page 23, Bloch writes out two altered versions
of the subject from the f major fugue in Book I, as well as
the subject itself. He comments that Bach's original is
better because of variety in the direction of melodic
lines. The subsequent exercises on page 23 are devoted to
a study of the F minor subject from Book I, with the follow-
ing remarks:
3
4
5
Only two notes difference with Bach! They do not
disturb the descending chromatic line of the
motif--but! ... compare them ... (Repeat of c - b ~ , c - b ~
Here, wthkept the characteristic interval of Bach--
upper 4 --change of range--like two voices--but
we changed again two notes X X
This is not absolutely "bad" but mediocre! No
character! out of style with the original
structure--charm--of motif.
Bach
Here, with a quite regular Rhythm of .Jall over, we
have enough Variety of line . . a really chromatic
descending structure , with acontrast, breaking
the line--in a logical way!--in the middle.
Below example 5, Bloch writes out a schematic presentation
of the subject, in which the descending chromatic structure
and the contrasting "upper voice" (stems up) are clearly
illustrated. In a concluding entry, Bloch adds a "Note for
students" in which he expresses the essential purpose of
the "Studies in Configuration."
Naturally, you can do these "distortions"--please
try!--with all the motifs. This is the best way to
experiment, and learn appreciating the perfection.
Maybe Bach himself did not get immediately the form
of his Themes in their final, perfect form--(Cf
Beethoven's sketches!)
362
Fu.gu.e_ I --p. 24
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363
Page 24 of the manuscript book contains a series of
examples pertaining to the subject from the F ~ minor fugue
in Book I. In a first altered version of the subject,
Bloch notes a lack of momentum in the second measure. He
comments on the second version:
CD Moves--but ... Bach reaches the B sooner.
Let us try
In a third version, the b is, in fact, introduced a beat
earlier, but Bloch criticizes the example on account of the
repetitive melodic motion. He notes that in a fourth
version
QD We reach the cf at same place as Bach .
As his markings show, however, here too Bloch was dissatis-
fied with the lack of contrast in the melodic writing.
He then enters a fifth version and comments:
CD We reach Band ~ a s Bach ... we have a progressive
motion to reach B, but after this first condensed
progression . . [measure 2, beats 2-3] we want
continuation of motion
This criticism led to a sixth version of the subject in
which the melodic writing is described as being better.
Yet the comparison to Bach's actual subject (Example 7) is
made on the basis of harmonic considerations:
364
But Bach introduces alterations thus
creating a kind of artificial leading notes .
first to B, then to C1f, which affords possibilities
of modulations withing the theme itself .
Bloch then sketches measures 15-17 of the minor fugue,
pointing out a particular context where Bach makes good use
of the harmonic possibi;ities inherent in the subject.
365
Fugue. I--p. 25
366
On page 25, Bloch presents a similar series of exam-
ples concerned with the K* minor fugue from Book II. He
enters a pair of marks ( X ) , indicating that in the first
altered version only two notes differ from the actual sub-
ject. The example, however, is found to be unsatisfactory
because of the repeated interval of a descending third.
Corresponding revisions led to a second altered version,
but Bloch remarks that it "is not better!" He then enters
a third version:
Here only one note is changed! but it sounds
ridiculous-!--Why? (is it on acct of ~ high,
intensive note? and the "skip"--this time--is
out of place.[)]
In Examples 4 and 5 Bloch examines alternatives to the high
i* in question, substituting first a d, then a b. He
concludes:
Only the ~ o Bach seems fit!
Finally, Bloch writes out an example showing that the
actual subject is essentially an elaboration of a simple
descending melodic line.
36 7 Fugue. I --p. 26
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368
The "Studies in Configuration" are concluded with
the material appearing on page 26 of the manuscript book.
Exercises 1-4 are concerned with an examination of the A
major fugal subject from Book I. The markings above the
first example refer to the repeated melodic interval of an
ascending third. Bloch remarks that the ending of this
first altered version is weak, and subsequently writes out
a second and a third version of the ending. But he finally
notes that the ending of the actual subject (Example 4) is
superior because of the "contrasting
He then turns his attention to the major sub-
ject from Book I and implements the principle of melodic
repetition, so integral to this particular subject, in de-
vising three altered versions of the theme. None of these,
however, are found to be equal to the actual subject. The
remaining material on page 26 is concerned with the fugal
subject in Bb major from Book II. Bloch uses a mark (X)
to indicate that only two notes in the altered version dif-
fer from the original subject. But he enters a schematic
diagram showing that these particular changes, in fact, dis-
rupt a structural sequential pattern (e -; f-d) to be
found in measures 3-4 of the theme. A second diagram at
the bottom of the page points out a certain variety created
by the note (second measure, second eighth note).
369
Fugue Ibis
In the years following his arrival at Berkeley,
Bloch also undertook numerous other studies of fugues from
the Well-Tempered Clavier, most of which involved a more
conventional analytical orientation. The writings of such
strictly analytical nature will be dealt with in the fol-
lowing chapter. There remains, however, one volume among
those pertaining to the presentation of fugal technique.
It is a manuscript book measuring 10 inches by 7 inches, on
which Bloch made an annotation connecting it with Fugue I:
Additional Fugue Ibis.
bis
The contents of Fugue I--- amount to five pages
of material, consisting largely of fugal subjects written
by Bloch with his daughter Suzanne. The subjects date from
the 1930s--the decade in which Bloch was in Europe, on ex-
tended leave from his American teaching duties, as is clear
from a remark entered in the volume's first page:
A few "Themes" I wrote with Suzanne in Roveredo
(1932) on the stairs of our house ...
Yet other annotations appearing in Fugue Ibis indicate
that the entire volume dates from a much later time. It
seems that the manuscript of the fugal subjects was saved
through both the 1930s and the 1940s; then in 1950, Bloch
copied this material into the volume now designated Fugue
Ibis.
370
b.
Fugue. I -<...6 --p. 1
371
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Fugue I-----p. 2
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372
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373
bis
The fugal subjects included in Fugue I--- are
remarkable in that here Bloch demonstrates towards his own
writing the critical attitude evident in his review of
student assignments. Pages 1-3 of the manuscript book
contain a series of nine examples, numbered in the margin.
For the first example (page 1), Bloch notated four versions
of a subject (a-d) , and these appear to represent progres-
sive stages. The first version begins and ends on the
tonic ("T"). The subject was then revised to begin on the
dominant ("D"). In two concluding versions, Bloch further
revises the theme, with particular attention to aspects of
rhythm. In drafting a second example on page 1, Bloch
wrote out a statement of the fugal answer both above and
below the subject. Example 4, at the bottom of the page,
is presented in two versions, the second being a more
concise form of the theme.
Bloch entered a special remark on the plain sheet
adjacent to page 2 of Fugue Ibis:
I used this motif, later, in my "Concertina" (1950)
see page 5
The reference to "page 5" involves a discussion where Bloch
examines this particular example in greater detail. There
bis
is another fugal subject in Fugue I--- that was used in a
work of Bloch's: he made a note indicating that the exer-
cise written out at the bottom of page 3 (example 9) recurs
in the final movement of his Suite Symphonique of 1944.
374
Bloch included among the original fugal subjects
bis
contained in Fugue I--- a single page of notes devoted
again to the analysis of an excerpt from a work by Bach.
It is the Overture for orchestra in D major, BWV 1068, and
in his discussion he is concerned exclusively with the open-
ing nine measures of the fugal section. (Bloch numbers the
measures commencing with measure 48 of the work here as
1-9.)
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376
Bloch's interest is directed in particular at the harmonic
structure of the subject. He writes out the first four
measures of the fugal section in piano reduction at the top
of page 4, and points out the motion from dominant to
tonic. The fugal answer, conversely, enters on the tonic;
but Bloch shows that in order to lead again to the dominant
for the entrance of the third fugal voice, the answer is
extended by one measure ("prolongation," measure 4). Then,
as Bloch's annotation notes, this third statement of the
theme, like the first, moves from dominant to tonic (in the
violas). Bloch summarizes his observations regarding the
corresponding harmonic structure of the subject and answer
in the schematic diagram appearing in the middle of the
page. Next, he writes out the fourth fugal voice (entering
in the lower strings, measures 6-9). He notes that, as in
the fugal answer in measures 2-4, the theme is extended so
as to control the tonal context. But in this case, the
prolongation of the subject is even longer than in measure
4, resulting in an actual modulation to the dominant.
In page 5 of Fugue Ibis, the last in the manu-
script book, Bloch returns to examining his own fugal sub-
jects. The discussion, which represents by far the most
interesting material in the volume, is concerned with the
theme initially presented on page 2 as Example 5. (In that
context, Bloch mentions his use of theme in his Concertina
of 1950.)
377
It seems that in composing the Concertina, this
fugal subject, which Bloch had first written almost twenty
years earlier, carne again to his mind; and after under-
taking a series of revisions, he included it as the theme
for a fugue in the work's final movement. These circum-
stances apparently prompted Bloch to go back to the manu-
script of 1932 where the fugal subject had first been
sketched. At this point, however, he found that his recol-
lection of the subject was not exact; indeed, the theme had
undergone significant change, and he examines the various
bis
stages on page 5 of Fugue I---.
378

Fugue. I---p. 5
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379
The original version of the subject (1932) is en-
tered at the top of page 5. Below it appears the subject
as Bloch remembered it in 1950. He discusses the differ-
ences between the two versions in a commentary on the page
adjacent to the musical examples.
. the 4 I 4 instead of 2 I 4 . . probably to make
it longer . . also, modulating to e min. (see
Bach, e min. fugue of II vol.!) The sequence part,
also, is better, instead of the e ~ g e n i n g line--it
breaks it, and puts the charact. 7 more
"organically" in sight.
Bloch goes on to comment on the revisions leading to the form
of the theme as it appears in the Concertina. He notes first
that he "had difficulty finding a good csubject . " The
"sketch" designated as example 3 on page 5 offers a "tenta-
tiVe" version of a countersubject, with the fugal answer
above it.
As the material appearing directly above this sketch
indicates, Bloch also had difficulties in establishing a suit-
able bowing for the fugal subject. He remarks that he felt
it necessary to start the triplet figure at the beginning of
the subject with a downbow, in view of the accented first
beat. But this resulted in a situation where the subsequent
strong beats (bV , b l:f , c) each came on upbows. Bloch tried
to rectify this problem by introducing a slur in the triplet
figure, only to find that the slur "disturbs the motif!" He
concluded:
380
Thus ... I saw that the motif was badly written, the
triplet, at the start, being an upbeat:
This observation, in turn, led to a revised version of the
subject, designated as Example 4: Bloch moved the triplet
to an upbeat, and then provided an additional beat at the
end of the first measure (" ") so that the inception of
the sequential pattern that follows remained on the down-
beat of the second measure.
Example 4, however, turned out to be unsatisfactory
for another reason:
... in such a way, a new difficulty arose: I
needed . . a 5/4 to introduce the Answer at the
right place! That irregularity displeased me
And while drafting a second version of the countersubject
(Example 5), Bloch noticed a further problem with the main
theme:
I felt also that the sequences were too repetitious .
Thus, Bloch arrived at a final version of the subject (Exam-
ple 6) entered at the bottom of page 5. In this version
the number of sequential patterns is reduced, dispensing
with the unwanted 5/4 measure. Bloch also points out that
in the final version, the additional fourth beat(" X,"
measure 1) is put into a "more logical and organic form."
381
Bloch's writings pertaining to the teaching of
fugue are representative of the different aspects of his
pedagogical activity: the student manuscripts afford us a
unique view of his private instruction; Fugue I reflects
Bloch's desire to undertake a more formal and systematic
presentation of fugal technique, in which the examination
of excerpts from the repertory was later integrated by
means of the "Studies in Configuration"; finally, in the
bis
contents of Fugue I---, one finds Bloch involving in the
pedagogical process studies of his own, some of which he
ultimately applied to his larger works.
In spite of their diversity, the manuscripts have a
particular feature in common--namely, the consistent refer-
ence to Bach. Yet it is fundamental to Bloch's didactic
orientation that Bach's works are not used as strict models
for the writing of fugue; nor do they form a general stylis-
tic basis for his instruction, as did the sixteenth-century
repertory in the teaching of counterpoint. Rather, the pri-
mary purpose in discussing the fugues from the Well-
Tempered Clavier is to emphasize the purely artistic judge-
ment that guided their design--an attitude that Bloch in-
tended to cultivate in the work of the student.
382
Footnotes
1
Suzanne Bloch, "Ernest Bloch," Musical America
(February 15, 1956): 22.
CHAPTER V
ANALYTICAL WRITINGS
In the collection of Bloch's didactic papers we can
recognize two basic categories of writings, each correspond-
ing to a distinct stage of pedagogical activity. On the
one hand, there are manuscripts dating from 1918-29, when
Bloch held faculty appointments in New York, Cleveland, and
San Francisco. This material consists of notes pertaining
to harmony, counterpoint, and fugue, and it reflects the
fact that one of Bloch's major occupations during these
years was the instruction in composition. A second body of
manuscripts dates from 1940-52--the period of Bloch's
tenure at Berkeley, and the final stage of his teaching
career. His duties at Berkeley involved to a considerably
lesser degree the instruction of the student composer and
thus there is a shift in the focus of his pedagogical writ-
ings: the later papers consist entirely of studies in mu-
sical analysis. Yet the difference between the two por-
tions of the collection is less fundamental than it might
at first appear. The emphasis which Bloch placed on analy-
sis in his later years is best understood as a logical
383
384
continuation of earlier didactic activity: in his early
writings, he examined excerpts from the works of the mas-
ters together with his own examples and those from stu-
dents; but as his pedagogical vision deepened, he came to
focus increasingly on the master models themselves, and his
studies became exclusively analytical in nature.
Nowhere is the connection of analysis with the
teaching of composition more evident than in the "Studies
in Configuration"--Bloch's title for a large body of analy-
tical notes dating from 1943. As has been explained in
Chapters II and III, he incorporated notes so designated in-
to earlier volumes on counterpoint and fugue. Yet another,
much more extensive segment of "Studies in Configuration"
is included in a third manuscript book which Bloch marked
Fl. Like the other two, this was initially used to record
material during Bloch's time in Cleveland, and before we
turn to the principal contents of this volume, we must
discuss its first dozen pages which were written so much
earlier.
La Forme musicale
The notes in Fl dating from the Cleveland years
(1921, according to an annotation on the front cover) ap-
pear in the first half of the volume under the title La
Forme musicale. They have been mentioned previously in
385
connection with another part of the collection, Applied
Harmony (see p. 35) The major portion of La Forme musi-
cale, however, consists of a series of examples which are
indeed concerned with the presentation of elementary prin-
ciples of musical form. The manuscript book measures 10
1/4 by 6 3/4 inches. Its opening pages are left blank for
the most part--some contain miscellaneous entries. But
beginning with page 5 follow twelve consecutive pages of
examples which constitute the essential text of La Forme
musicale.
., I

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t;.t\1 Xo. ~
386
La. FoJtme. mU6ic.a1.e.--p. 5
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388
La 7
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389
The exercises given on pages 5-7 of Fl are repre-
sentative of the material gathered under the heading La
Forme musicale. Atop page 5, Bloch wrote out an eight-
measure melody consisting of two symmetrical phrases. It
serves as the basis for the three pages of examples that
follow. Bloch begins by making specific changes in the me-
lodic writing, first in order to vary the melodic relation-
ship between the antecedent and consequent phrases, and
then (commencing with Example 5) in order to demonstrate
the principles of modulation. On page 6, he adds a series
of ~ x e r i s e s illustrating a procedure which he calls "rhyth-
mical transformation." "Rhythm" in this context has the
same connotation as in the writings pertaining to the in-
struction in harmony: it refers to motion of strong and
weak on larger levels of organization (c.f. pp. 37 ff.).
Here Bloch changes certain features in the writing so as to
create new phrase structures--first "3 & 3," then "5 & 5,"
and so on. Finally, on page 7, he drafts a series of exer-
cises in harmonization, emphasizing in particular that the
use of root position triads should correspond with "strong
points" in the melodic line.
It is suggested by certain features of this materi-
al that Bloch did not regard it as an integral part of what
he wished to preserve as a pedagogical record; in fact, the
annotation La Forme musicale is actually crossed out on the
volume's cover. (It was probably at a later date that
390
Bloch added the label Fl--"F" as an abbreviation for
"form," just as "H" and "C" appear on the volumes pertain-
ing to harmony and counterpoint.) Nevertheless, it is
clear that La Forme musicale was originally intended as a
companion volume to the other principal compilations dating
from this time--Applied Harmony, Strict III Part-counter-
point, and Fugue I--representing a deliberate effort on
Bloch's part in the early years of his American career to
deal with each of the major didactic disciplines. And the
inclusion in 1943 of "Studies in Configuration'' into these
volumes was made according to that systematic pattern: to
Strict III Part-Counterpoint he added analytical studies of
works from the polyphonic repertory; analyses of fugues
from the Well-Tempered Clavier were entered into Fugue I;
and Bloch appended to La Forme musicale examples devoted to
excerpts from the Viennese Classical masters.
Studies in Configuration
As has been explained in the preceding chapters,
the "Studies in Configuration" are distinct from more con-
ventional analyses by virtue of the singular manner of in-
quiry from which they are derived: in examining a given
excerpt, Bloch's method was, in essence, to alter detailed
features of the writing, with the premise that a comparison
of the altered version with the original would yield unique
391
insight into the logic determining the actual composition.
It is in F1 that one finds the most extensive segment of
such "Studies in Configuration." In applying his procedure
to the works of Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven, Bloch studied
excerpts representing the principal genres of instrumental
music from the Classical era--the symphony, the overture,
the concerto, the solo sonata, and the string quartet. The
excerpts are in themselves quite short, the majority being
less than twenty measures long, but they are accompanied by
lengthy commentary. Bloch's observations pertain to vari-
ous aspects of the texture. The thrust of his discussion,
however, is concerned with showing how the constituent fea-
tures of the musical idea (i.e. its "configuration'') con-
tribute to a prevailing and organic structural unity.
Where it was relevant to his examination, Bloch made copi-
ous reference to Beethoven sketches published by Nottebohm,
realizing that the sketch material provided a basis for the
kind of comparative analysis, characteristic of his "Stu-
dies in Configuration," which he had otherwise to create by
his own means.
The "Studies in Configuration" begin with two pages
of examples concerned mainly with Beethoven's Sonata op. 2,
no. 1.
392
2_--p. 71- . .
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394
In the upper staff on page 17 appears an altered
version of the main theme from the sonata's first movement
(Example 1). Bloch notes that there is "no Contrast
harmonically."
(This might go for a "development" perhaps--but not
as an "Exposition" of a Theme.) However do not
draw . . hasty conclusions! Do not make a "RULE"
of it! Consider the circumstances, and "configura-
tion" of a motif.
He then cites instances from two other works by Beethoven--
the first symphony (Example 2) and the second symphony
(Example 3)--in which Beethoven's own writing shows no
harmonic contrast.
Examples ru_ and Q) are also based on I--and satisfac-
tory! Why?
Because in Ex. 1, the real motif is made of 2 meas-
ures. Its ascending form goes to a top note a ~
using all the notes of the chord (I). It is com-
plete in itself. Ex. 2 and 3, in spite of their
divisionary structures are quite different and
complete only in 4 measures.
The last two examples on page 17, Examples 4 and 5,
are concerned with another aspect of the theme. Bloch
alters the writing so that the second of the two-measure
"motifs" begins, like the first, with an upbeat .
. . . the two upbeats make too much similarity.
no breathing space, it seems ... Is it the upbeat?
Making a "Rule" again? Let us try! !Ex sl seems all
right! The second upbeat does not disturb us! But
the Idea has been completely changed, transformed.
It is no more a motif of 2 & 2 but a real 4 bar
motif.
395
He then refers, at the top of page 18, to one of Beetho-
ven's sketches (Example 6, published by Nottebohm in the
Zweite Beethoveniana) ,
1
noting that at this early stage
of work there "was no upbeat at all!"
The beginning of Example 7, in the middle of page
18, is identical with that of the Sonata. But Bloch alters
the conclusion by repeating the sequential pattern appear-
ing in measures 1-2 and 3-4 a third time in measures 5-6.
He remarks:
This is decidedly too much! too "expected"
have three times the same pattern .
. We
Compare now Beeth. [bottom of page 18] . Here we
have a perfect form! Unity, Variety, enough Con-
trasts, thematically, harmonically, rhythmically,
progression . . . All is integrated. Just enough--
not "too much" .... Observe the "top notes"
ab --bP . now down again, but if, melodically,
there is a regression (ab ) a new stimulus is
created. B. uses only second part of motif .
and a condensed rhythm of 1 & 1 to reach the apex on
C (ff ) Observe also the basses [sic] progression!
On pages 19-20 of F1, Bloch examines a passage from
the third movement of Mozart's g minor symphony, comparing
aspects of it with the preceding excerpt from Beethoven's
op. 1 no. 2.
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398
The "starting motif" from the symphony's third
movement is written out atop page 19. Bloch remarks,
referring also to the previous exercise:
Both start with an upbeat and an upward progres-
sion. . . However, in Beethoven the harmony--tonal
contrast--had to change to be satisfactory,
here ... it does not change (I--I, I--I) and is
satisfactory!
-
Let us try to change it--Ex. CD [second staff]
Not satisfactory at all! Why? Of course, the
configuration is quite different from Beethoven.
Not only the rhythm of 3 & 3 but the structure .
of the motif. In Beet. we had one chord (I) Here
we have already contrasting effect (I (V) I).
With Example 2, he turns his attention to certain
rhythmic features of the g minor theme.
I transform it--the end of motif--with a masculine
rhythm. . this is too final . . Mozart [Example
3] goes on--the d on----zri"d beat is a kind of "conjunc-
tion" . . connecting the two fragments of 3 & 3.
Observe the Bass and logical harmonization, aesthet-
ically . . . The 3 bar has a g tonic on the 1st
beat
6
but it goes further--feminine rhythm--and bass
has 3 Thus, no finality! 6th bar has g in
melody, but on a weak beat--and
5
the a s ~ g, tonic,
though a little more decisive (3) than 3 is
counterbalanced by the fern. rhythm.
Example 4 reflects Bloch's further consideration of
features of rhythm. He alters Mozart's actual melody so
that the last of three consecutive presentations of the
main motif leads again to a feminine rhythm. (The same
version appears at the top of page 20, as Example 5).
399
Ex. 4 Is absurd! Why? and where? There is exactly
one note different from Mozart, the final d .
"''t'"'"is exactly at the d tha.t we resent the lack of
variety, of change, . . of "stimulus" . . in
spite of the melodic progression we have three sen-
tences ending . . on a feminine rhythm!
What does MOZART'S marvelous instinct do? Precisely
at that point--that is, a little before, just before
we get bored . . . he changes ~ a masculine
rhythm. The f becomes the start of a new pattern
(at the same time it is the endof the previous
one!)
In Example 6, Bloch adds (in green ink) to Mozart's
melody an extra repetition of a descending sequential
pattern.
The green distortion shows how ridiculous this would
be--again "too mechanical" . . Instead, see what
Mozart does. Variety--Contrast--Melod. Rhythm.--
Harmonically--and Key.
The excerpt on page 21 of F1, from Haydn's symphony
No. 102, is introduced as "Example on 'Prolongation', (that
is: Element of surprise ... ) ."
400
.!_--p. 21 ..
- . . .. .
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401
In the first staff, Bloch writes out the opening theme of
the third movement, and beneath it he proposes what would
be "a regular, quite symmetrical second . . period" to
the theme (Example 1).
Now Haydn [Example 2] is quite different! He starts
the second period (4 meas.) exactly like the first,
and it is so square and ... regular that we are
enclined to expect it to continue as before .
But ... there comes the "unexpected" After the repeat
of the 1st period of 4 meas. the motif which
appeared upbeat of 4th meas. is taken P inverted,
but 1 & 1 . . then ,r another measure new pattern
(related, rhythmically to start of menuetto .
this makes a group of three measures . . leaving
us in suspense. It is repeated, one degree above;
new suspense and 2 conclusive measures--ending in F
Toward the bottom of page 21, Bloch draws a schematic
diagram of the entire passage, and remarks:
Everything is unexpected . . Of course, the
Element of change, novelty, surprise, is due to the
regularity pervading the 1st proposition--as a
contrast! (in rhythms, keys, nuances) CF the
"Moderns"! Constant changes in measures, or key,
does not create "contrast," but chaos--or at least
an inferior, more brutal reaction .
(At the bottom of page 21 there appears a comment that was
clearly added at a later time: "Cf Fabre Variete (too
much) fiche [?] ." The reference is to J.H. Fabre, whose
scientific studies influenced Bloch in his "Studies in
Configuration"--cf. p. 27, above.)
In the subsequent eighteen pages of F1 Bloch ex-
amined an additional fifteen excerpts. Three years later,
in 1946, he undertook further "Studies in Configuration":
402
he first entered two more excerpts into Fl, then, having ex-
hausted the available space in that manuscript book, began
another, F2, which contains five excerpts, covering seven
pages. For both volumes, he provided a detailed table of
contents.
In addition to the "Studies in Configuration," in
which a highly specialized procedure was applied to the
chosen excerpts, Bloch undertook in his later years also a
number of extensive studies deriving from a more generic
approach to analysis, and these form a body of what may be
considered strictly analytical writings. They are among
the most extrordinary documents in the collection. Each
manuscript represents the culmination of an extended proj-
ect devoted to the examination of a work or series of
works. In most cases, Bloch began his study by making a
vast number of notes--consisting of sketches, schematic dia-
grams, and commentary--in preparation of a formal analyti-
cal presentation. He then created from his notes a fair
copy, using a variety of colored inks, and placed the com-
pleted manuscript in a carefully labeled folder. Occasion-
ally, he returned to the manuscript in later years and en-
tered additional observations. Al1 of the analyses are
meticulously notated and preserved. Where the preliminary
notes survived, they too were paginated and put in proper
order. Bloch devoted the overwhelming share of his
403
attention in these projects to the study of two works in
particular: the Well-Tempered Clavier, and the Eroica
symphony. He also dealt with shorter analyses of addi-
tional works by Bach and Beethoven and of works by
Musorgsky and Debussy.
Analysis of Works by Bach
The largest portion of the analytical writings is
contained in four folders of collectively well over a hun-
dred pages of notes devoted to the analysis of fugues from
Bach's forty-eight. The compilation of these manuscripts,
as is evident from dates entered on various pages, extended
over more than a decade, 1940-51, but the study of fugues
from the Well-Tempered Clavier occupied Bloch at every
stage of his professional life. In a lecture which he
delivered in 1947 he briefly recounted his work on this
repertory:
I had first studied Bach fugues about 1900.
Seven or eight years later I gave a course on fugue
in Geneva and found I had to study them all again.
Later I gave similar courses at Cleveland and San
Francisco; each time I restudied the fugues .
. . I have studied them several times in several
different ways; in 1940-41 I memorized all the
2
countersubjects, the exposition of each one, etc.
Similar accounts appear in the manuscripts of the collec-
tion; for example, Bloch included the following comment in
prefacing his analysis of the ~ minor fugue from Book II.
404
first scheme: Frankfurt a/M., 1900-1, probably.
Later Studies ... Diamond Lake, Ore. Summer 1940.
Berkeley Cal. (Exposition only-Febr. 1942) Finally:
Agate Beach, Ore. December 1947. Memorized the
whole Fugue, very slowly--mentally by writing, not
at the Piano! After 12 days, I could write it,---
correctly, in 30 minutes--Still discovering, till
Dec. 30 (!) details which had escaped my thorough
attention. I had copied it, with 6 diff.-inks--made
a coloured "Scheme"--and I am writing now these
Notes (Dec. 30 1947)
It should be mentioned that while Bloch refers several
times to certain analyses dating from the early 1900s, no
such manuscripts concerned with the Well-Tempered Clavier
seem to have survived. The earlier material was probably
incorporated into the fair copy and then discarded. Thus,
we are often actually dealing with a compendium of analy-
tical observations drawn up over a period of as much as
fifty years.
Bloch's remarks bring to light two further integral
features of his method of study. To begin with, Bloch
placed great emphasis on the act of memorizing the fugues,
and it indeed seems that m ~ h of the material contained in
the respective manuscripts--entire fugues, in some cases--
was written out from memory. The following comments (which
are also from Bloch's lecture of 1947) convey some of the
benefits he derived from this rigorous process:
405
My mediocre memory made this a difficult task. I took
lessons from Bach, very slowly. I had to learn what
Bach had no doubt written very rapidly. When I had
penetrated the secrets of integration, logic organi-
zation, only then could I copy them with different
colored inks identified with various elements in the
fugue .
After long study I reconstructed each fugue .
to understand just why Bach had done thus so and so.
After this I could write ou3 a fugue from memory as
easily as writing a letter.
Also prominently mentioned by Bloch is the use of
colored inks in transferring the analysis to fair copy. In
the notation of material with different colors, being a
feature common to many of Bloch's didactic writings, the
change of color hinges most often upon some matter of or-
ganization or emphasis, without involving a crucial peda-
gogical point. In the analyses of the forty-eight fugues,
however, the procedure of applying different inks is vital
to the didactic presentation as a means of tracing the
complex use of thematic material in Bach's fugal texture.
The contents of the four folders reflect progres-
sive stages in Bloch's analysis. On the front cover of the
two earliest folders, Bloch made the same annotation:
. . /' /
Clavecln blen Tempere ETUDE des EXPOSITIONS. The first of
the two folders is blue, the other is gray. The cover page
of the principal manuscript contained in the blue folder
bears an additional note:
Fugues of the Well-Tempered Clavier
Subjects and Answers (csubject) in colours
406
This manuscript, like most of those comprising these analy-
tical writings, consists of a series of loose double-leaves
of staff paper, each enclosed in the next in the manner of
a gathering. It runs to a total of twenty-two pages, and
measures 13 1/2 by 10 3/4 inches.
-----
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407
Etude..o de..o Expo-6ilion6
(blue 1
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[W]
408
As is illustrated by the page here reproduced (which
is representative of the contents of the blue folder as a
whole), the manuscript constitutes, in essence, a catalogue
of the main thematic material for each of the forty-eight
fugues. Bloch dealt with the fugues in his own systematic
order, taking first from both books of the Well-Tempered
Clavier the fugues in C major, then those in and so
on. The fugal subjects and answers are notated in black ink
and the countersubjects appear in red. Where the opening
measures include an additional prominent melodic line (such
as the inverted subject in the major fugue from Book II)
it is copied out in green ink. (Here, and elsewhere, I have
identified the ink colors in boxes with arrows.)
In contrast the other analytical writings, these
excerpts appear without commentary. It seems that Bloch's
objective was merely to intensify his familiarity with the
fugal subjects and countersubjects in preparation of further
study. He wrote in the lecture from 1947:
The development of each fugue on elements
contained in the subject itself.
There is another manuscript enclosed in the blue
folder, representing what was evidently the next stage in
Bloch's analysis of the forty-eight fugues. This manu-
script, which numbers twenty pages, is in fact a prelimi-
nary draft for that contained in the second of the two
folders (gray) entitled ETUDES des EXPOSITIONS.
7
409
(-'1- '"' llu W.T.cf.,,,.;,_,._:)
C-IT G C-
E:tu.de.,5 de.,5 Expo-6ilion6
1
410
As is evident from the first page of the manuscript
in the gray folder, this project involved a considerably
more extensive study of the fugal expositions. The manu-
script itself numbers thirty-two pages, measuring 12 1/2 by
9 1/2 inches. In his presentation, Bloch again examined
the combined contents of both books of the Well-Tempered
Clavier in order of key. An annotation on the outside
cover of the manuscript reads:
E.B. Agate Beach Oregon Oct. Nov. 1941
Bloch devoted his principal attention to studying as-
pects of the melodic writing. Invariably, an analysis has
its point of departure in a detailed examination of the fugue
subject. In many cases, Bloch focused on the smaller melodic
elements of the subject; with other examples, he removed cer-
tain ornamental figures from the subject to emphasize its ba-
sic structure. Such inquiry was integral to Bloch's analy-
sis, for he considered it an important characteristic of
Bach's fugal style that the features of the subject often re-
curred in the construction of secondary themes and accompani-
mental lines. He used a special term for his examination of
such intensely motivic procedure: the study of "thematics."
In analyzing a particular p2ssage, he sometimes marked the
reappearance of a recurring melodic feature with a bracket or
similar symbol. To trace the return of the principal themes
in an excerpt, he again used colored inks--in some instances
411
introducing as many as six different ones in order to dif-
ferentiate various layers of the melodic writing.
On page 1 of the manuscript, Bloch applies these
procedures to the opening measures of the C major fugue
from Bach's First Book. At the outset, he makes a diagram
in the upper left-hand corner of the page, illustrating the
entrance of the four fugal voices, and he remarks that this
pattern of entrances (featuring two consecutive statments
of the fugal answer) is "unique in the W.T. Clavichord!
C-G G C." In the upper right-hand corner, there appears a
table explaining the use of the colored inks:
Black - Th. Ans.
Braun - related to Th. Ans.
Red- Ctsubj.
Violet- relates to Csubj--also ... Th.
Blue - free Ctpt.
In this particular instance, it seems that Bloch's
use of brown and violet ink serves the same purpose, as both
indicate material related to the fugal theme ("th."). In
fact, he mentions in another context that especially in the
C major fugue he was at times undecided as to which of two
colors should be assigned to a given melodic line since he
found all the thematic material in the fugue generally inter-
related. This feature is ~ t r e s s e in his analysis of the ex-
cerpt. Initially, Bloch notes that the fugue subject begins
with the scale progression of a fourth (designated as ''a").
He then points out that the end of the subject and the
412
beginning of the countersubject consist of an "inversion by
diminution of a", and he concludes:
(Thus, the Csubject is partly from the Theme)
There is the further observation that the soprano voice in
measure 4 presents an inverted statement of the countersub-
ject, and Bloch marks again the return of the pervasive pro-
gression of a fourth.
He indicates the start of a stretto in measure 7 and
continues his study through measure 14. In this respect the
excerpt is exceptional, for with most of the other fugues
the analysis is limited to the study of the exposition. But
in all other ways, the example on page 1 typifies the con-
tents of the manuscript in the gray folder. For no fugue
does the analysis cover more than a single page of manu-
script, and the systematic attention to features of melodic
writing is present in all the analyses, as are annotations
concerning basic harmonic structure (such as those appearing
below the staff on page 1). There are also frequent annota-
tions referring to related studies included in other por-
tions of Bloch's writings. On page 1, such a remark is en-
tered in the lower left-hand corner. In a few of the ex-
cerpts, Bloch also compares variants as published in the res-
pective editions of Czerny, Busoni, and Kroll. Busoni's edi-
torial licence is mentioned with evident disdain.
Of all the features Bloch admired in the fugues of
413
the Well-Tempered Clavier, the individuality of the works
seems to have struck him as a particularly vital manifesta-
tion of Bach's genius. He remarked in a lecture from 1947
that he had analyzed all the fugues and "found that no two
are alike, furthermore not one corresponds to the 'fugue
d ~ c o l e as taught at the conservatories."
5
The next
stage of Bloch's analytical studies therefore involved the
examination of the entire structure. These studies are pre-
served in a folder entitled "Fugues of the W.T. Clavichord"--
the third of the four compilations devoted to excerpts from
Bach's forty-eight. Material contained in the gray folder,
it seems, was actually used in preparation of the more ex-
tended analyses, as many details of the former are dupli-
cated in the latter.
Beneath the title "Fugues of the W.T. Clavichord"
Bloch entered an additional note:
(Analyses -- Copies in Colors . . )
(for Courses in Berekeley -- 1941-1942)
The date on the cover, however, reflects only the earliest
stage of his work in compiling this material. Unlike the ana-
lytical writings discussed earlier, the third folder contains
a set of independent manuscripts--each devoted to the study
of a different fugue--which were undertaken over the course
of ten years. We have a general idea as to the origin of the
respective manuscripts from a loose sheet of paper measuring
11 by 8 1/2 inches inside the folder's front cover, on which
414
Bloch wrote out a brief inventory of its contents. Here he
listed the manuscripts in the order in which they were
placed in the folder and he also gave the dates for each
individual analysis. In addition, he indicated which of the
analyses were prepared for an actual teaching situation.
According to the table, the contents of the third
folder represent four distinct stages of activity. A core
of seven manuscripts dates from 1940-41, Bloch's first year
on the faculty of the University of California at Berkeley.
Later in 1941, he added analyses of four more fugues to the
folder. The folder contains two additional manuscripts dat-
ing from 1947-48, and, finally, two more which are dated
1951--the last year of Bloch's teaching career. Yet this
general chronology does not adequately account for the fact
that often a manuscript is itself comprised of material rep-
resentative of different chronological layers. The dates
given above correspond in each case to the formation of what
might be considered the primary portion of a given manu-
script, consisting of a double leaf on which Bloch wrote out
(in colored ink and probably from memory) a fair copy of the
analysis for an entire fugue. In most instances, the fair
copy was then itself used as a folder for further notes per-
taining to the same fugue. In total, the third folder con-
tains fifteen such manuscripts. Bloch's own inventory shows
that roughly half of these were undertaken in conjunction
with a specific class or lecture. For the remaining half,
415
there is no reference to a practical reason for the analy-
sis, nor are there indications as to why Bloch happened to
select the particular fugues for detailed study.
Among the contents of the third folder is a manu-
script pertaining to the C major fugue from Book I of the
Well-Tempered Clavier. Again, the manuscript consists of a
fair copy (reproduced below), written out on a double leaf,
which, in turn, encloses a second double leaf and three
loose sheets--all containing further analytical notes. On
the second double leaf, Bloch gave a brief account of his
work on this fugue. Referring to the second double leaf is
Bloch's note:
These notes were taken in Oswego--Fall 1940
He continues, commenting now on the compilation of the fair
copy and two of the loose sheets:
Since, in Agate Beach, Ore. Oct.--1941, I memo-
rized--at the table!--the whole Fugue. This is,
decidedly, the only way to understand fully all the
implications! In re-writing, fr. memory, several
times, the Fugue, one discovers gradually--and al-
most without end!--new vistas, and thematic details,
which had escaped at first. This leads me to new,
additional notes--
Finally, in a different ink (clearly representing a later
entry) , Bloch makes reference to the third loose sheet of
notes:
(I restudied it, again, March-April 1948!, with
clearer insight ... ).
416 Fugae6 on the W. T.
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418
The colors of the fair copy essentially correspond
to those in the excerpt from the gray folder, though in
this case the procedure was applied to the entire fugue.
And as in the manuscript from the gray folder, Bloch en-
tered brief remarks in the fair copy concerning details of
harmonic structure. There is, however, more extensive
commentary given in the supplementary pages, where Bloch
devotes his attention to four aspects of the example. He
focuses again on the fourth-progression at the beginning of
the fugue subject, and its prevalence in the total texture.
In the colored transcription, I have noted, as
usual, the Countersubject in Red. But, in the
references, later, it was very difficult to chose
between the braun (referring to [material related
to] the Theme) and violet [material related] to
Csubject on account of the great similarity of
both--The one (csubject) merely continues the
descending end of the Theme . . which, itself, is
an inversion, by diminution, of the 4 ascending
notes, starting the theme! Thus, (meas. 4) the
Sopr. Voice could be considered ... as a thematic
fragment . . of Theme (either the start, by
diminution ... or an inversion of the end!! (or the
inverted 1st part of Csubject!) The whole fugue is
permeated by these 4 notes!
He remarks that this fourth progression is also extremely
important from the point of view of contrapuntal texture,
referring in particular to its use in the upper voices,
measures 12-13.
Considerations of contrapuntal writing led Bloch to
comment on a second aspect of the fugue, illustrating what
he terms "the Principle of Continuity." In essence, these
419
observations pertain to the direct exchange of a particular
melodic figure between voices. Bloch points out several
such instances of exchange in the concluding measures of
the fugue: from bass to soprano in measure 20; from tenor
to alto in measure 21; from soprano in measure 22 to bass
in measure 23. He also mentions the descending melodic
line (soprano to alto) in measures 25-26, and, juxtaposed,
the ascending line (tenor to soprano) in measures 25-27.
In the page of notes dating from 1948, Bloch re-
turns to the examination of the fugal subject. But here,
his concern is with harmonic rather than melodic details--
his main point being that in the course of the fugue, the
subject is given several different harmonic "interpreta-
tions." He writes:
This fugue is very interesting to be studied from
this viewpoint. The same melodic "pattern" (Theme
and Answer) assumes constantly different
"meanings"--the same notes having diff. tonal
functions.
He goes on to compare the context of two identical state-
ments of the fugal answer, appearing in measures 2-3 and
measures 4-5, respectively. He notes that the first state-
ment is presented in the context of a modulation from C
major to G major. The second statement is treated simi-
larly at the outset, but it returns to C major in prepara-
tion of the entrance of the fourth fugal voice.
420
Bloch also points out differences in harmonic context for
three statements of the fugal subject: measure 1, begin-
ning in C major; measure 5, interpreted as the dominant of
F major; measure 14, following a modulation to A minor. He
remarks further:
The several "Stretti" afford ample studies in this
regard. . . Play the voices separately. Then,
each one with the Bass. meas. 7 & 8 . . Still
more interesting 10-11-12 ... Naturally, in the
triple and quadruple Stretti (14-19) the implica-
tions are still more complex and subtle! And also
later (19-23) when the voices come on more distant
notes . . a,e, (19) but gradually, the key of the
dominant G prevails, to return to the original key
of C. (And, at the end, the usual and frequent
inflextion--as a balance--towards the underdominant
F.)
The final aspect of Bloch's analysis pertains to
the larger structure of the fugue:
The form of this fugue is unique. . . The 6 quoted
from the Exposition (1st part) (C-G G C)
After that, begins the ''Stretto"--only in two voices
first (measure 7-13) (2nd part) A cadence, in A
minor (13-14) closes it. The 3rd part (14-23) pre-
sents the "Stretto" in 3 or 4 voices. Then (24-27)
the Coda.
No "transitions"--no "divertimenti"--no "inversion"
of Theme--neither "augmentation" nor "diminution"
The interest of the fugue thus resides (stands)
all the harmonic (and contrapuntal)
combinations evolved from the Stretto itself.
Bloch dealt more comprehensively with the question
of larger structure in the fourth and final folder in the
421
series devoted to fugues from the Well-Tempered Clavier.
The fourth folder (or rather, in this case, a spiral-bound
notebook measuring 11 7/8 by 9 7/8 inches) is not dated;
but it was clearly conceived as a companion to the collec-
tion of manuscripts just discussed: it contains schematic
diagrams of fifteen fugues--one for each of the analyses
included in the third folder.

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423
There is a reference in another portion of Bloch's
writings indicating that he first applied this particular
analytical procedure in his studies with Iwan Knorr. On
the page reproduced above, Bloch wrote out a diagram illus-
trating the formal structure of the C major fugue from Book
I. The first four sections of the page represent the en-
tire length of the fugue, with horizontal lines constitut-
ing the four fugal voices. Vertical lines correspond with
numbered measures, and slurs indicate statements of the fu-
gal subject. Across the bottom of the page, Bloch entered
the same diagram in a more condensed version--a procedure
which he followed for all the analyses. The use of colors
in the diagram essentially corresponds with that estab-
lished in the manuscripts discussed previously. As is
evident from certain remarks quoted above, and from the
basic divisions expressed in the diagram, Bloch viewed the
structure of the C major fugue as consisting of four main
parts: exposition (measures 1-6); stretto in two voices
(measures 7-13); stretto in three and four voices (measures
14-23); coda (measures 24-27).
The four folders of fugue analyses form a distinct
group of manuscripts. This is most obvious in terms of rep-
ertory; but there are further grounds for recognizing the
fugal analyses as a separate entity. Bloch's treatment of
the fugues--the systematic and progressive stages reflected
424
in the four folders, the continual refinement of individual
analyses, the rigorous procedure of writing from memory--
add up to an unique style of study.
The essential economy of writing expressed in the
forty-eight fugues afforded an opportunity for truly exhaus-
tive study that might have been impracticable with works of
larger size, and some of the remaining analytical writings
are indeed different in nature since they are concerned
with more extensive structures. Among these is a folder
containing analyses of the other works by Bach. This
folder is inscribed:
Analyses diverse:
Sinfonia fr. Cantata 29 "Wir danken dir Gott" Analyses
(=Preludio in E maj fr. Partita for Violin alone)
Brand. Concerto No I (F maj.)
1st movement (Analyses et Notes)
Sketches Overture in D
Actually, the Overture is not included in the contents of
the folder. Bloch did, however, place some notes concern-
ing the D major Overture, BWV 1068 in another compilation--
his
the manuscript book entitled Fugue I--- (see pp. 375
ff.). It seems probable that he was dealing with BWV 1068
in both cases, and that in the course of time he decided
that all pertinent notes should 0e consolidated in Fugue
Ibis.
The analysis of the Sinfonia appears on six sheets
of staff paper, measuring 12 1/2 by 9 1/2 inches, (on which
425
are written out all of the work's 138 measures), a single
sheet of plain paper showing a schematic diagram of the
movement, and a single typewritten page of commentary. Sev-
eral pages of draft material for the analysis have also
been preserved. None of these--nor any other writings in-
eluded in the Analyses diverse--are dated, but the style of
Bloch's remarks suggests that the analysis may have been
presented as a formal lecture.
As the annotation on the cover of the folder indi-
cates, Bloch made in his study of the Sinfonia reference to
the violin Prelude on which it is based, and specific
points of relationship between the orchestral version and
its model form the subject for the major portion of the
typewritten notes:
The Violin part is transcribed for Organ, with only
very few modifications due to the difference of in-
struments and keys; see measures 17-28 and 67-78.
Also a few details, measures 109, 110, 112, 119.
(Bach adds Strings, 2 oboe, 3 Trombe, Timpani,
Continuo.)
The choice of ... E major, for Violin Solo,
is evident, when one compares it with the Cantate
Version [in D major], as well as the modulations to
certain keys. (E and A Major are very prominent in
the Violin Version. Thus, D and G major in the or-
chestral Version.)
It is undoubtedly a question of "open strings",
(E and A strings) for the passages which make
use of the specific properties of these
(Cf measures 13-28, and 63-78, especially.) Also,
109-112, 116, 130-133. The corresponding passages
in the Organ part had to be modified accordingly, to
make them suitable for the instrument.
(Orgelmaessig)
426
It is ... possible that the choice of keys, and
modulations ... was motivated by these violinistic
reasons. (The predominance of E and A major, Tonic and
underdominant in the Violin Version)
The study and comparison of the two Versions is of im-
mense interest. I have devoted the transcription and
the scheme to the Cantate Version, in its key of D ma-
jor, because it underlines in a magnificent way .
all the potentialities afforded by the monodic version,
from the harmonic and "thematic" viewpoints.
427 cii.vvu.,e
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429
The analysis of the Sinfonia is entitled "Etude
thematique," and Bloch's primary attention in these pages
indeed went to the study of thematic structure. In the
course of his analysis, he observed that the melodic writ-
ing in the movement was principally derived from the repe-
titian of short "motifs," and he designated each of them
with a specific mark in order to trace their various recur-
rences. This procedure corresponds to what Bloch referred
to as the study of "thematics," and at the bottom of the
first page, he gives the following account:
I started the Study of "Thematics"--very subtle .
Then the rhythmic division based on thematics, also
harmonic background. Then "the keys"!
In the upper right-hand corner-of the page, Bloch entered a
table explaining the symbols used in the analysis. The
markings pertaining to melodic structure generally appear
above the staff, and they are made in variety of colored
pencils. Below the staff, Bloch used brackets to delineate
the "rhythmic division" --i.e. the characteristic combina-
tion of individual measures or groups of measures into pat-
terns of strong and weak. He points out, for example, that
the passage notated in the lowest system on the first page
consists of a series of two-measure units. Green ink was
used for indications referring to general harmonic motion,
and Bloch occasionally drew in arrows as a means of empha-
sizing the "direction of lines."
430
In the remaining pages of the manuscript, Bloch
applied the same analytical procedures to the rest of the
Sinfonia. This material is followed by a schematic diagram
of the entire movement (reproduced above), written out on
an 11 by 8 1/2 inch sheet. The markings in the diagram es-
sentially correspond to those in the previous manuscript.
Harmonic structure is indicated in green ink. The "rhyth-
mic divisions" are again shown below the staff, with brack-
ets in brown ink. To indicate the thematic structure,
Bloch used a variety of symbols, drawn in such as way as to
represent the actual shape of the melodic lines involved in
each measure.
Bloch clearly conceived the movement as consisting
of five main sections. About the first section, (measures
1-28) he noted:
These 28 measures are practically a Pedal on I of
D! (The last ten bars on a real Bass pedal.[)]
(All the [melodic] forms appearing during these 28
meas., I call "motifs a"
Similarly, he designated a second section of the movement
(measures 29-50) on the basis of a change in harmonic or-
ganization and on the presentation of new thematic materi-
al, referred to as "motifs b." The return of the opening
material in measures 51-78 constituted, in turn, the basis
for what he designated as the third section of the move-
ment, just as a second appearance of "motifs b" defined the
fourth section, measures 79-108. Measures 109-38
431
constitute the concluding section. In the portion of the
diagram dealing with the melodic structure, Bloch observed
a strict distinction between "motifs a" and "motifs b" by
using colored inks: the symbols representing the former
appear in black, while those for the latter were drawn in
either violet or red.
Bloch's analysis of the opening movment of the
first Brandenburg Concerto proceeds in a fashion similar to
that of the Sinfonia. It covers a pair of double leaf
sheets, on which Bloch wrote out the entire movement in
short score. There are also included six pages of type-
written notes, again apparently for a formal lecture. A
series of drafts for the notes has also been preserved in
the folder.
Perhaps the most striking feature of Bloch's study
is that the analysis itself is so remarkably detailed--
indeed, every measure is taken into account. This is, in
fact, an attribute of most of Bloch's analytical writings,
indicating a vital interest on his part in examining the
more detailed aspects of the texture. In this respect,
t ~ r is a certain dichotomy between his own work and that
represented by more conventional schools of thought. The
conventional element, in Bloch's view, was manifest in the
practice of giving analytical consideration only to the
432
obvious features of larger musical construction--strictly
formal analysis. As is suggested by his study of the Sin-
fonia, for Bloch the true substance of a composition rested
on smaller levels of organization and the means by which
they contributed to formal structure. Referring to one of
his own analytical projects, he made the following comment
in the lecture of 1947:
This has nothing to do with the analysis of music as
it is usually taught. . One has only to look at
the stupid analysis on the first page of some minia-
ture score editions to realize the truth of this.
They attach stupid labels to music, but nobody seems
to be aware of l o g ~ c a l organic, aesthetic reasons
for a work of art.
Bloch's orientation had significant bearing on his
analyses in two respects. In purely practical terms, these
detailed studies obviously reflect a certain concrete, ob-
jective knowledge of the work in question. But more to the
point, it seems from the very nature of the analytical writ-
ings that in concentrating so intensively on the motion
from one measure to the next, Bloch was able, in a certain
way, to reconstruct, to experience the process by which the
piece had been composed. In other words, each analysis
represents once again an actual lesson in composition.
There is a separate manuscript to be mentioned, a
volume measuring 5 1/8 by 6 1/4 inches, entitled:
Methodic Study of BACH CHORALS (Dec. 1928)
433
It assumes an unusual place among the analytical writings
because it dates from an early period, and its contents rep-
resent not an analytical study as such but rather a practi-
cal guide to writing four-part harmony, based on the exami-
nation of selected chorale settings by Bach. Dealing with
each setting, a passage at a time, Bloch often changed as-
pects of the writing, and for the purpose of instruction
compared his altered version with Bach's original--as he
had done in the "Studies in Configuration." In some cases
he harmonized a setting of melody and figured bass by Bach,
and again compared the result with one of Bach's own har-
monizations. The volume contains forty-two pages of ex-
amples. The first eight pages are devoted to the study of
the chorale "Ach Gott erhBr mein Seufzen"; in the remaining
pages, Bloch examined the chorale "Gelobet seist du, Jesu
Christ" in several settings by Bach.
Analysis of Works by Beethoven
The distinctive quality of Bloch's analytical writ-
ings is particularly evident in a series of studies devoted
to the examination of Beethoven's Third Symphony. Bloch
compiled a total of five individual folders of manuscripts
pertaining to the Eroica. Most of this material, however,
is either preliminary or supplementary to that in a folder
containing what clearly represents the project's central
434
document. The cover of the folder in question bears this
annotation: BEETHOVEN SYMPHONIE III EROICA op. 55. The
folder contains a manuscript of sixty pages and measuring
13 1/2 by 10 3/4 inches, for which the following remarks
(again from Bloch's lecture of 1947) might serve as an
introduction:
In 1940 I spent eight months gathering all the
sketches in the Nottebohm book of Beethoven
sketches. He sometimes wrote 16 different drafts
for a few measures before it [be]came the perfect
thing that we know. I tried correlating the
sketches for the Third Symphony to the finished
work. I copied them on a page with the final form
as we know it underneath. I analysed them according
to form, harmony, rhythm, key etc. I wrote no ex-
planatory text; all this information remains in my
head. Beethoven's instinct led him to discard cer-
tain sketches and retain others. This s7udy offers
a true and unique lesson in composition.
Actually, the manuscript, which Bloch refers to as
his "general analysis," is concerned only with the opening
two movements of the Eroica: pages 1-38 are devoted to the
study of the first movement; the contents of pages 39-60
pertain to the second movement. (A considerably less exten-
sive examination of the third and fourth movements is pre-
served in a separate folder, to be discussed later.) The
general analysis is comprised of a series of double leaves
with sixteen staves per page. Bloch used the lower two
staves of each system in writing out (in reduced score) the
first two movements in their final form. In a varying
number of staves above the reduction he copied for a given
435
passage the sketch material published in Nottebohm's Ein
Skizzenbuch von Beethoven aus dem Jahre 1803.
8
Yet a comparison of the various stages in the compo-
sition of the Eroica was only one of Bloch's objectives.
Equally essential to the project was the examination of the
movements from a strictly analytical perspective. Bloch's
analytical observations generally pertain to basic aspects
of the texture. For example, he was consistent in indicat-
ing the harmonic structure of each passage. And throughout
he marked the introduction and return of principal melodic
lines. (On a double leaf in one of the other folders,
Bloch compiled a catalogue of the thematic material of the
first movement, giving each prominent "motif" its own
alphabetical The same alphabetical system is
applied in the general analysis.) Also included in the
manuscript are annotations pointing out major formal divi-
sions of the movements and, less frequently, certain de-
tails of orchestration. Bloch's use of colored inks in
writing out this material is neither as elaborate nor as
integral to the presentation as in his analyses of works by
Bach. Generally speaking, the movements in their final
form, as well as the corresponding sketch material, are
written out in dark blue ink; red ink is used for annota-
tions dealing with harmonic, thematic, or formal structure;
more detailed remarks often appear in green ink.
The most significant feature of the general
436
analysis, however, is concerned with an aspect of the tex-
ture which Bloch calls, here and elsewhere in his writings,
"rhythmic division." He applied this highly interpretative
concept in attempting to define the combination of indivi-
dual measures as larger patterns of strong and weak, pat-
terns from which musical material derived its character-
istic shape. Bloch's painstaking inquiry into this, the
fundamental element in the organization of the musical
idea, is at the very heart of his effort to account for
every detail of the texture as contributing to a larger
musical context. In the analysis of the Eroica, the rhyth-
mic divisions are indicated by means of brackets entered
below each system. Below each bracket, in turn, appears a
number pointing out how many measures made up a given di-
vision. Perhaps in suggestion of their importance to the
analysis, the brackets and corresponding numbers were drawn
in red ink.
Bloch's thorough study of the final form of the
Eroica provided him with a basis for his examination of the
corresponding sketches published by Nottebohm. It should
be noted, however, that Bloch faced a number of practical
limitations in dealing with the sketches. To begin with,
Nottebohm himself had included in his monograph only a por-
tion of the sketches that appear in the sketchbook.
9
Fur-
thermore, the very nature of Bloch's comparative analysis
made it necessary that some sketches be omitted from
437
detailed study because they were not sufficiently related
to the final form. Finally, Bloch was able to incorporate
only as many sketches of a given passage as there were
empty staves on that page of his manuscript.
As Bloch himself mentioned in his lecture from
1947, there is very little commentary included in the
general analysis. But for some cases where Beethoven's
sketching had been especially extensive, or where points of
correlation between sketches and final form were particu-
larly intriguing, Bloch undertook a more documented exami-
nation on a separate sheet, ultimately including it among
the writings preserved in the other folders pertaining to
the Eroica. Such studies are significant because they of-
fer the only instances where Bloch presented explicit dis-
cussion of the relationship between the various sketches
and the final form. The most substantial of these dis-
cussions is concerned with measures 109-31 of the sym-
phony's first movement, represented in the general analysis
on the pages reproduced below.
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441
Bloch designated the passage beginning in measure
109 (atop page 6 of the manuscript) as "Conclusive Groups":
the several sections that conclude the exposition. The num-
bers entered in the left-hand margin alongside those staves
containing sketch material indicate the page in Nottebohm's
text in which a given sketch appears. Measure numbers for
the final form are given beneath each system. All other
markings correspond to those of the analysis discussed
previously.
Bloch marked the thematic material beginning in
measure 109 "motif g." He indicated that the final form of
this passage is comprised of two four-measure sections
(measures 109-12 and 113-16), the second of which is es-
sentially an elaboration of the first. He further points
out, however, that in two earlier versions of the passage
(represented by sketches taken from page 24 and page 25 of
Nottebohm's monograph) the material corresponding with
measures 109-12 consisted of a pair of two-measure groups.
There are two aspects of Bloch's study of the
sketch from page 24 which require additional explanation.
First, Bloch noted at the outset that the sketch was itself
"similar" to another sketch included by Nottebohm, and ap-
pearing on page 16 of the book. Second, the portion of the
sketch from page 24 which corresponds to the four measures
113-16 is only two measures long. Thus, Bloch was com-
pelled to add two blank measures. As a final observation,
442
he remarks that the rhythmic motion in measures 113-16 was
in its final form an improvement over earlier versions
because it presented a better contrast with the eighth-note
writing in the measures that followed than did any of the
sketches.
Bloch's markings suggest that he considered meas-
ures 117-18 to consitute something of a transition to
"motif h" which is distinguished in his analytical scheme
by the introduction (in measure 119) of "binary accents."
Bloch also observed how closely the sketch from pages 13
and 14 of Nottebohm's presentation (the so-called "vierte
grosse Skizze") resembled the final form. But his primary
focus in this portion of the discussion was on the relative
length between measures 117-22 of the final form and the
corresponding sketches. In the right-hand margin on page
6
bis h d t h d t h f
e 1n 1ca es t at, compare o t e s1x measures o
the final form, one of Beethoven's sketches was "about 18
meas.," while a second sketch was nine measures long, and
so on. Bloch also points out that the sketch material
appearing in the third measure of the upper staff on page
6bis (" ") anticipates "motif i," which is ultimately
introduced in measure 132 of the final form.
In examining measures 123-31, on page 7 of the manu-
script, Bloch identified two salient characteristics of the
writing: the first was the constituent rhythmic division
of the passage, consisting of a five-measure group followed
443
by a four-measure group; the second was the presentation in
measures 128-31 of a series of reiterated, "static," first-
inversion seventh chords. The related sketches were
examined with these two particular points in mind, and
Bloch wrote out the following observations on one of the
separate sheets included in another folder. The numbers
associated with each comment correspond to those provided
in the left-hand margin on page 7 of the manuscript.
14. is incomplete (but the binary rhythm is already
present)
20. is groping! ... too confuse[d] & long
24 up. vague. no binary chords! (but a group of
measures is there, as in Ex. 24 down and 26 also)
24 down. the 5 measure group is fixed. But
6
not the
following chords! (neither the stagnant 5!)
25[26?] The group of 5 is present (but vague,
harmonically) but the binary group is o.k.
Final form . (5 measures of harmonic motion.
Then 4 of static! but rhythm!)
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The three pages of manuscript reproduced above rep-
resent Bloch's examination of the concluding bars of the
exposition. In his analysis, Bloch divided this portion of
the movement into four sections. The first (page 8 of the
manuscript, measures 132-35) was defined by the introduc-
tion of "motif i," which was in itself similar, as Bloch
points out, to "a
2
"--i.e. the fragment of the opening
theme of the movement that is presented intially in meas-
ures 5-6. The second section, which Bloch refers to as
"Prolongation," consists of a sequential passage that brief-
ly delays the culminating arrival of the new key of the dom-
inant (measures 136-43). He designated measures 144-47 (on
bis
page 8 of the manuscript) as the third of the four
sections, coinciding with the presentation of "motif j."
The fourth section, finally, (page 9, measures 148-53) con-
stitutes the "return bridge," and is based on "motif a
1
alone"--i.e. a fragment representing the first half of the
movement's opening theme (c.f. measures 3-4).
In his examination of the corresponding sketches,
Bloch made the following observation:
In none of them can be found the "Prolongation"
(measures 136-40 (144) as it appears in the final
form. Instead many show a figuration in .
[eighth notes] (again!)
He also notes that the chords in measures 144-47 (motif j)
are present in most of the sketches, and he further com-
ments on the various combinations of "a
1
" and "a
2
" that
448
are found in the sketches for the "return bridge," measures
148-53.
The second half of the exposition--contained in the
pages of the manuscript reproduced above--is represented by
a large number of sketches. For the remaining portions of
the first movement, on the other hand, there is a much smal-
ler number: only in a few instances could Bloch incorpo-
rate more than a single sketch into his examination of the
development section, and he found in Nottebohm's work no
early versions for the material following the recapitula-
tion. The same may be said of the second movement--only
for particular passages were there sketches to be compared
with the final form.
In absence of a comparison of corresponding
sketches, it is the strictly analytical aspect of Bloch's
study that comes to the fore. The concept of "rhythmic
division" again emerges as the most vital feature of his
work. As a case in point, pages 47-48 of the analysis are
devoted to the study of the maggiore section (measures 69-
104) of the second movement, and they offer a particularly
clear illustration of Bloch's approach.
449 Beethoven Symphonie III
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Bloch designated the theme beginning in measure 69
as "motif f," and he interpreted the opening four measures
of the maggiore as consisting of a pair of two-measure
groups. The following four measures (measures 73-76), how-
ever, were regarded as something more complex: Bloch de-
scribed the constituent rhythmic division as ''3 & 1"; that
is, he viewed measure 76 as a point of structural elision--
representing at once the conclusion of the preceding four-
measure group and the inception of a new passage in Q

He refers to the material in measures 76-79 as
"motif g." Further, he observes that in measure 80 begins
a development of motif f, and that there follows a series
of modulating one- and two-measure groups, leading to the
return, in measure 90, of motif f and the tonic C major.
At that point, Bloch noted, the treatment of motif f is the
same as before--i.e. beginning with a two-measure group
(c.f. measures 69-70). But he interpreted the ensuing meas-
ures (92-97) as a single six-measure group, emphasizing the
function of these measures in preparing for the climactic
return of motif g in measure 98. Similarly, he observed
that the second presentation of motif g (measures 98-100)
is somewhat from that in measures 76-79: in the
earlier instance, the material consisted of a passage of
four measures; but in the later case, it covered only three
measures--the expected fourth measure actually forms the
452
beginning of the "return bridge" (measures 101- 04), which
leads to the return of the minore section in measure 105.
As we have mentioned, Bloch occasionally supple-
mented his usual analytical methods by introducing a sche-
matic diagram for the purpose of examining a particular as-
pect of the texture. One such instance is concerned with
measures 248-83 of the first movement (pages 15-16 of the
manuscript, reproduced below). Here Bloch used a diagram,
which appears at the bottom of page 16, to illustrate in
condensed form the harmonic structure and the "rhythmic
division" of the passage.
453
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In analyzing the fugato from the second movement
(beginning on page 49 of the manuscript) , Bloch applied a
technique of diagramming that one also finds in his studies
of fugues from the Well-Tempered Clavier. His analysis of
the fugato is preceded by the note:
See additional page for the SKETCHES, and more
detailed Analysis.
It refers to a double leaf in another folder, which con-
tains mainly sketches and related commentary that Bloch
copied out verbatim from Nottebohm.
On pages 49-50 of the analysis appears a portion of
the diagram which Bloch used in examining the fugato. The
diagram is made up of a series of four strata, correspond-
ing to the four-part fugal texture, and Bloch used a dif-
ferent kind of line to represent each of the three prin-
cipal fugal themes: a slur for the main subject; a jagged
line for the first countersubject; a broken line for the
second countersubject.
456
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458
Completing his study of the second movement, on
page 60, Bloch dated the manuscript: "Diamond Lake Aug.
1940." There remain to be discussed, however, four folders
which contain additional manuscripts dealing with the
Eroica. Perhaps the most noteworthy of the four is a
manila folder that Bloch labeled "Eroica notes diverse
schemes etc." The principal portion of its contents is a
series of 11 by 8 1/2 inch sheets on which Bloch wrote out
schematic diagrams illustrating the formal structure of
each of the symphony's four movements. Actually, the dia-
grams are of two kinds. The first, which Bloch refers to
as "general scheme," was designed to give a structural over-
view of the entire movement; in the second kind, Bloch ex-
amined the main sections of a given movement one by one and
in much greater detail. Reproduced below are two diagrams
concerned with the Marcia funebre: one is the general
scheme, and the other is devoted solely to the study of the
maggiore section.
459
1JETHovcl'l
EJtoic.a. . . dJ...v eM e .6 c.hemv.,
Ma.Jtc.ia. 6unebJte--geneJta.l .6c.heme
.. t
m
-
460
.ft


l!_L '-1'-- AA:I/o.. li::_7
Eto_{_c_a. cii_veMe .oc.hemu

2
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f!::i! I. c f-.
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{ Jw--7.. ......... 1' .. - )
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461
As is evident from the general scheme, Bloch viewed
the second movement as consisting of four main parts:
"A
1
" (measures 1-68); "B," or maggiore (measures 69-104);
"A
2
" (measures 105-208); coda (measures 209-47). He
similarly designated the various smaller sections compris-
ing each of the four main parts. The opening passage of
A
1
(measures 1-16) is identified as "a
1
," consisting of
the presentation and immediate repetition of "motif a."
There follows, corresponding with measures 17-30 and a modu-
lation to E ~ major, a "b" section featuring motifs "b, c,
1
d." Bloch regarded a third constituent section of A as
a variation of the first, hence referring to it as "a
2
"
and indicated further that measures 37-55 involved a repeti-
tion of b and a
2
, leading to a coda (and "motif e") in
measures 56-68.
The general scheme shows that Bloch applied to the
second part of the movement, B, again a formal division of
1 2
a b a , as he also did to the third main part of the
2
movement, A --though in this latter case the tri-partite
structure is somewhat more complex. The first of the three
constituent sections in A
2
, extending from measures 105-
59, is identified as a presentation of the thematic materi-
al which had opened the movement, followed by a ~ u g t o and
a short extension based on motif a. In turn, the middle
portion of A
2
(measures 160-72) involved an "Episode lead-
ing to the return of .
1 . . " h 1
. a , 1n c m1nor, t e eventua
462
return of a
1
in measures 173-208, representing the third
and concluding section of A
2
Bloch also divided the coda into three sections:
the first coincides with the introduction of a new melodic
line ("motif h") in measures 209-22; the second is based on
motif c, in measures 223-37; the third consists of motif a
"transformed," in measures 238-47. Then, in a final obser-
vation (appearing in the lower right-hand corner of the
general scheme), Bloch proposed an alternate approach to
the structure of the movement, in which the fugato and the
"episode" that followed were together considered an indepen-
dent section ("C"), while the ensuing passage in measures
173-208 was designated as "A
3
." Bloch mentions that from
this perspective the form of the entire movement would in-
volve six main parts: A
1
B A
2
C A
3
Coda.
On the page devoted to the maggiore section, Bloch
devised a more extensive representation for the formal
structure of that part of the second movement, and from
this one clearly senses his systematic purpose in undertak-
ing the detailed diagrams and general schemes in combina-
tion. The contents of the detailed diagram are generally
self-explanatory; in essence, it is a purely graphic expo-
sition of the same analytical observations that were made
in his previous examination of this portion of the movment
(general analysis, pages 47-48; see above, pp. 448 ff.).
With the commentary at the bottom of the page, Bloch brings
463
a few points to particular attention. He first recommends
1
that section a be carefully compared against section
a
2
. The next remark is concerned with the two structural
elisions appearing in the maggiore section, one in measures
75-76, another in measures 100-01. Bloch further stresses
that the keys of the section should be examined as they
relate to C major. He then points out that the ascending
eighth-note figure in the lower strings, leading to the
first measure of the maggiore section, is featured promi-
nently in the section as a whole. His concluding remarks
refer to certain details of harmonic writing.
Bloch's schematic analysis of the Eroica Finale is
equally interesting. Obviously, he noted the overall form
of theme and variations. But as the "general scheme" of
the movement shows (reproduced below), in Bloch's concep-
tion the variation structure was ultimately only a compo-
nent of a tighter formal plan, by which the movement was di-
vided into six main parts: A
1
B
1
A
2
B
2
A
3
coda.
.13ETHqVEN
'

I !
. !
464
/ Symph. Ji[}
f!1Nfi[j
EJtoica. citv e.M e. -6 che.me.-6
Fina.le.--ge.ne.Jta.l -6che.me.
1/!lJG-.II.TO lf.fra_, ,..._ ,....,kf@) T-iJ/7
a..........- f:::!2__J
r .... ,g;!JJ;p,- ob,A-J,,i}- 'l'ra-..(6--...,
IIJ-'Jif
465
It is evident that Bloch conceived of the three "A"
sections as related because it is in those portions of the
movement that the actual variations on the main theme are
presented; in contrast, the two "B" sections have in common
the introduction of a fugal texture. Furthermore, he was
strict about considering as variations proper only the sec-
tions in which the basic proportions of the original bass
line remain essentially intact. Passages in which princi-
pal thematic material appears truncated or otherwise struc-
turally altered are consistently designated in his scheme
as transitional or developmental in nature.
The details of the diagram are again self-
explanatory. There are a few small points of Bloch's
analysis, however, that merit more careful consideration.
For example, Bloch defined one section of the movement (the
fifth variation) as extending from measure 211 to measure
255, even though measure 257 has been for many writers the
more obvious choice as a point of structu!al definition.
Bloch evidently based his interpretation on the sudden
change of dynamics in measure 256, and on a certain continu-
ity of line in the horn part in the measures that follow.
The ensuing passage, which constitutes a transition leading
to t ~ fugato in measure 277, is interpreted as consisting
of two distinct parts: the first part (measures 256-65)
involves a relatively straightforward presentation of pri-
mary thematic material, and thus Bloch included it in
466
2
section A ; the second part of the transition (measures
266-76) is more developmental in nature, and was according-
1 d
. . 2
y groupe 1n sect1on B .
Finally, Bloch designated measure 396 as the begin-
ning of the coda. This detail of interpretation, though
again at odds with that of most other writers, is consis-
tent with Bloch's tendency elsewhere in the analysis to
make a strict distinction between the variation proper and
any surrounding material that does not correspond to the
structural proportions of the main theme. As is again evi-
dent from the general scheme, Bloch divided the coda into
several parts. In his view, the coda begins with a passage
in E I? , followed by an "episode of quietness" in ~ b , and a
G minor pedal--the return of the "motif of Introduction,"
which leads from G minor to ~ major, forming the conclud-
ing section of the coda.
In addition to the completed schematic diagrams of
the four movements, there are also included in this Eroica
folder a vast number of drafts for the completed diagrams.
None of them are dated. But their general appearance sug-
gests that they were undertaken, along with the majority of
the other analytical writings, while Bloch was at Berkeley.
Also included in the folder, however, is a small body of
schematic studies preserved in a gathering separate from
those mentioned above. This group of writings probably
dates from a much earlier time--most likely from the years
467
prior to Bloch's arrival in America. While superseded en-
tirely by the later diagrams, the earlier studies show that
Bloch's examination of the Eroica, like that of the fugues
from the Well-Tempered Clavier, represents several decades
of analytical observation. In addition, this particular
folder contains various pages of handwritten notes, the
first of which is especially interesting because it consti-
tutes a brief and informal chronicle of the work Bloch did
on the Eroica manuscripts in 1940. The remaining pages con-
sist of notes which he gathered from a book of essays on
Schoenberg, edited by Merle Armitage, portions of which are
concerned with certain comments made by Schoenberg about
the Eroica.
10
Bloch kept an additional series of analytical
studies devoted to the Eroica in a second manila folder,
which is inscribed:
Symphony III Special Studies all 4 mvts.
The Special Studies consist of five distinct manuscripts;
one of these--a manuscript of twelve pages and measuring 13
1/2 by 10 3/4 inches--deals with sketches for the Scherzo
and the Finale.
Here, even more so than in the case of the other
movements, Bloch was limited in his analysis by the compara-
tively small number of sketches published by Nottebohm.
468
Thus he chose not to write out the entire final form of the
two movements but to concern himself only with those por-
tions of the Scherzo and Finale for which Nottebohm had
provided sketches: in pages 1-8 of the manuscript, Bloch
correlated sketches with measures 1-14, 61-80, and 167-231
of the Scherzo; in pages 9-12, he examined sketches related
to measures 1-11, 211-18, 227-34, and 242-58 of the Finale.
The most arresting discussion refers to measures
1-14 of the Scherzo. Bloch's primary attention in this
portion of the analysis was focused on the matter of
determining the appropriate "rhythmic division" of the
passage.
469
SCHERZo.
Symphony III Spe.c.ial. S:tu.die.-6
Sche.nzo; Finale.--p. 1
-------------------------- --- -----------
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Carl Fischer, Inc. New York.
No.7- 18 Jlnew.
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470
't
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Schenzo; 2
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471
Bloch begins by pointing out that it is not
feasible to interpret this passage as consisting of a
strict succession of two-measure groups, because "one would
arrive . [at] a weak beat in measure 10--which is un-
doubtedly strong--and the final beat, measure 14, would be
weak!" As an alternative interpretation, he proposed that
the first full measure be considered an anacrusis, followed
by a strict two-measure grouping. But he found this ap-
proach to be equally problemmatic: it placed ". . meas.
seven on a weak beat. That Beethoven intended it strong is
proved by meas. 93,ff, Tutti!" Bloch concluded:
Thus . . one is compelled to consider irregular
rhythmic groups
Accordingly, in the actual analysis he designates measures
7-9 (page 1 of the manuscript) as a three-measure group, in
contrast to the surrounding two-measure divisions.
Bloch evidently found the matter of establishing
the correct rhythmic division a particularly challenging
aspect of his examination of the Scherzo, for it was again
a topic of discussion on page 7 of the manuscript.
472
Symphony I II Spe.c.ia Stu.cite.J.>
Final.e.--p. 7
y
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473
Bloch entered a remark to indicate that measure 198
(the first full measure in the upper system) was an anacru-
sis. He also pointed out, however, that this constituted
something of a reversal from two earlier versions of the
passage, where the material corresponding with measure 198
seemed rather to represent the beginning of a rhythmic
grouping. At the bottom of page 7 of the manuscript, Bloch
expressed some uncertainty as to the correct interpretation
of measures 207-08 of the Scherzo (lower system, second and
third measures), On the one hand, he marked measure 207 as
the last constituent in a group of three measures (205-07),
and thus as an anacrusis to measure 208; on the other hand,
he also indicated that measure 207 might be considered as
beginning a four-measure group (measures 207-11). His ulti-
mate decision in favor of designating measure 208 as a
strong point of arrival, was made on account of the intro-
duction of the tonic b on the first beat of the measure.
But Bloch then found that such an interpretation was in
fact confirmed by one of Beethoven's sketches: in the
sketch, the material corresponding with measure 208 is
notated in such a way as to clearly represent the inception
of a musical idea.
In the remaining manuscripts of Special Studies,
Bloch turned his attention again to the opening two move-
ments of the Eroica. Among the contents of the folder is a
474
double leaf entitled "Nomenclature des MOTIFS." It con-
stitutes, in essence, a catalogue of the principal thematic
material of the first movement. Bloch marked the themes
with letters--a system he then used in all studies of the
first movement. A second manuscript pertaining to the
first movement consists of eight pages, and here Bloch
copied out selected excerpts for the purpose of examining
the various harmonic contexts associated with two of the
primary themes. In pages 1-4 he made a "STUDY of FIRST
THEME . . its several presentations"; pages 5-6 are de-
voted to the "STUDY of motif 1-its modulations." ("Motif
1" was Bloch's designation for the theme which is first
introduced in the development, measure 284.)
The second movement is represented in the folder by
a manuscript consisting of a double leaf, the front cover
of which is inscribed:
Marcia Funebrae Sketches and add. Studies
pertaining to the FUGATO
One page of the double leaf contains sketches and ex-
planatory text copied out verbatim from pages 40-41 of
Nottebohm's book. On a second page, Bloch notated the main
theme of the fugato in the form of both subject and answer,
adding in both cases the corresponding versions of the two
countersubjects. The final manuscript among the Special
Studies is a double leaf which served as a preliminary
475
draft for the portion of the general analysis devoted to
measures 23-45 of the first movement.
There remain to be discussed two final folders of
Eroica studies, though the contents of these are of lesser
importance. One of the two is a gray folder, the cover of
which reads:
Premiers Feuillets d'Analyse de l'EROICA
Most of the writings contained in this folder are drafts
which Bloch made in preparation of his general analysis. A
few additional pages resulted from a more detailed examina-
tion of Beethoven's sketches for the exposition of the
first movement. In addition, there are two pages that date
from the early 1900s, on which Bloch wrote out the main
thematic material from the first movement. This "Etude
Thematique," as Bloch entitled it, eventually served as a
preliminary draft for one of his later manuscripts--the
"Nomenclature des Motifs."
Bloch labeled the last of the folders "Beethoven's
Sketches--Misell. Notes (Berkeley 1940) ." It contains two
pages of sketches corresponding with measures 338-97 of the
first movement of the Eroica. These sketches were pub-
lished by Nottebohm, but were not close enough in concep-
tion to the final form to be included in Bloch's analysis.
A third page shows sketches for the first movment of the
476
string quartet op. 18, no. 1. Bloch copied these out from
Nottebohm's Zweite Beethoveniana.
11
The several folders of material pertaining to the
Eroica are accompanied in the collection of Bloch's analy-
tical writings by a manuscript of eighteen pages, measuring
13 3/8 by 11 3/4 inches, in a folder inscribed:
Leonore Overtures No. 2 and No. 3
Comparative Studies (till "DurchfiThrung")
Agate Beach March 1946 EB
Viewing Leonore No. 2 essentially as a draft for Leonore
No. 3, Bloch undertook a comparison of the two much like
his comparison of the sketches and final form of the
Eroica: in both cases, once again, the thrust of the dis-
cussion extends beyond the parameters of conventional
analytical inquiry, addressing instead the very process of
composition.
As the title on the folder indicates, Bloch's com-
parison of the two Leonore overtures is actually limited to
a study of the respective expositions. On pages 5-6 of the
manuscript, he examined from each overture the passage con-
eluding the adagio section.
477 Leo vw ne. 0 v vc..t:Wte.-6
Studie.-6--p. 5
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478

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479
The excerpt from the second Leonore overture is writ-
ten out on page 5 of the manuscript; on page 6 appears the
parallel passage from the later version. Bloch identified
two points of close correspondence: the first measure on the
respective pages, and the arrival at a dominant seventh har-
mony (page 5, measure 8; page 6, measure 5). His observa-
tions about the passage from the earlier overture are primar-
ily concerned with what seems to him a lack of economy in the
writing. Specifically, he indicated that measure 3 on page 5
is an "exact repeat" of measure 1, and similarly, that the
harmony in measure 4 is duplicated in measure 5. Mention is
also made of the repetition in measures 12-15 of material
initially presented in measures 8-11. Bloch concluded his
discussion by pointing out that while the excerpt from the
earlier version runs to twenty-one measures, the parallel
passage in the later version amounts to only ten measures:
... The essential "material" is kept! But what a
Condensation! Now, it is impossible to change a
single note! . -.--. It has all become organic--no
useless "stretch." 21 measures--in 10!
At the bottom of page 6 Bloch places a diagram of the respec-
tive passages for a more direct comparison of the material.
While Bloch particularly stressed the greater econ-
omy of writing in the revised Leonore overture, he noticed
various other improvements as well. His examination of the
beginning of the allegro, on pages 7-8 of the manuscript, is
a case in point.
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482
The close correspondence between measures 1-32 in
the two versions is reflected in Bloch's presentation of
the material: in this case he wrote out the excerpt from
the Leonore overture no. 3 directly below the corresponding
passage from Leonore overture no. 2. He placed measure num-
bers beneath each system, beginning with the first measure
of the allegro as measure 1. Interestingly enough, Bloch
had made a comparative analysis of these measures in an
slightly earlier manuscript--the volume entitled F1--where
he added the following remarks:
Both have exactly the same number of measures and
use identical thematic material. However the im-
pression is quite different! No. 3 seems perfect.
No. 2 seems too long, especially around measures
22-25 . . the end [i.e. measures 29-32] has stag-
nation and unbalance! All this is due to the
"organization" of the material.
Bloch's analysis of this material is extremely
subtle, and hinges, as do many of his analytical designs,
on the concept of "rhythmic division." From an overall per-
spective, he interpreted measures 1-32 of both Leonore over-
tures as consisting of a strict succession of four-measure
groups. But he also pointed out that each group was at the
same time comprised of smaller groups of measures, and it
was on this smaller level of organization that he found the
two versions to differ so dramatically. He determined the
internal structure of four-measure groups through features
of the melodic writing. For example, the internal rhythmic
483
division of measures 13-16 of the second Leonore overture
was designated as "1 + 2 + 1," based on a melodic repeti-
tion in measures 14-15, and the contrast it forms with
melodic patterns in measure 13 and measure 16.
The melodic writing in the initial measures of the
two versions is essentially the same. Bloch noticed, how-
ever, that this ends in measure 12; in fact, he singled out
the first beat in measure 13 as the exact point in which
the two versions significantly diverge. In both versions,
the melodic writing in measures 13-32 consists mainly of an
arpeggiated diminished triad on b. But while the series of
arpeggios in the second overture actually begins on b
(measure 13), the melodic pattern in the third overture
starts a third higher with a first inversion triad. Bloch
regarded this as a decisive difference, because as the
arpeggiated patterns differ so, too, do the characteristic
rhythmic divisions.
In essence, Bloch seems to have felt there was not
sufficient variety of rhythmic divisions in measures 13-32
of the earlier version. Beginning with measure 13, he in-
terpreted the four-measure groups leading to measure 32 as
follows: "1 + 2 + 1; 1 + 2 + 1; 1 + 2 + 1; 1 + 3; 1 + 3."
Bloch based his critique of the passage in measures 22-25
("too long") on the threefold repetition of the pattern
"1 + 2 + 1."
As for the corresponding section of Leonore
484
overture no. 3, Bloch shows that the groupings are indeed
more varied: "1 + 2 + 1; 1 + 2 + 1; 1 + 3; 4; 4." He
points out that further variety is given to the final group
of 4 by the introduction of brass instruments in measures
29-32, and he makes an additional comment regarding these
final measures in performance:
Brass ought to start p or ~ and make a cresc.
during the 4 measures. And no! accelerando, as too
many conductors do!!
In concluding his comparative analysis, Bloch
remarks:
From now on, (Development--Recapitulation--Coda) the
two versions are so completely different in concep-
tion and realization that a strict "comparison" is
impossible. The thematic structures, keys, modula-
tions, form in general differ entirely. Only careful
study and analysis . . . of both can show the enor-
mous differences. . . On the whole No. 3 is infi-
nitely better constructed and shows greater mastery
in all respects.
The folder containing the Leonore manuscript also includes
six loose pages on which Bloch made schematic diagrams of
the third Leonore overture. Like some of the diagrams con-
nected with Bloch's Erocia analysis, these diagrams seem by
their general appearance to date from a much earlier time--
possibly again from before Bloch's arrival in America.
485
Analysis of Works by Musorgsky and Debussy
In addition to the studies dealing with Bach's and
Beethoven's works, Bloch included in the collection a pair
of manuscripts devoted to works by more recent composers.
They are preserved in a folder inscribed:
Etudes de FORME
Moussorgsky fr. Sans
Debussy fr. Pellas
Nocturnes
Soleil No. I
~ b u t
Acte I Sc. II
(Nuages)
No. II
La lettre (fragments)
This project was conceived in an entirely different spirit,
most evident in that Bloch was concerned exclusively with
brief portions of the composers' work; the manuscript num-
bers only fourteen pages. Furthermore, while the title
Etudes de Forme suggests a certain systematic purpose to
the project, in fact Bloch dealt here with the concept of
form very freely. He refers not to specific formal design,
but to structural continuity of any kind. The following
comment, entered on one of the pages of the manuscript,
conveys his general approach in examining this material:
.. attempting to "analyze" . . with no
reference to so called "tradition" or short siqhted,
superficial melodic or harmonic theories, but in re-
lation to more general and broader aesthetic
principles of configuration .
It was his conviction that the "aesthetic principles" were
universal, timeless: "Gregorian chant . . Mozart or
486
Beethoven . . Preludes of 'Tristan' 'L'apres-midi
d'un Faune' . the principles have not changed."
12
Bloch mentions three principles in particular in
discussing the first of two songs from Musorgsky's song
cycle Bez solntsa (Sunless); they are "Unity--Variety
(change)--Progression," regarded by him as the trinity of
"perfection of form." The song is copied out on a double
leaf measuring 12 1/2 by 9 1/2 inches. Preserved with it,
and representing the essential portion of the analysis, is
a loose sheet on which Bloch wrote out only the vocal line
of the song, adding his commentary.
487
~ ,,.:,. ~ 1' ...t. .it, t' 'J I ! ._ I J .. )
V' I
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Etude..o de. FoJune.
MU6oJtg-6ky--p. 1
-------------- ---- -----
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= = = = = = ~ -=================- ~ = = = = = ~ = . . . : : . = = :=-=-=-=-=---=--===---=- _ : _ = ~ = =:--. _- __ - --------------- ----- ------------ --------------------- ----------- ~ .. ------
488
E.tu.de-6 de. Fo.tune.
MI.U>oJr.g.6ky--p. 2
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fh!t.nn
Sew tork, L'. S. J.
489 E.tude.J.J de.J.J FoJtme.
MCUJ oJtg.o k!f--
too.o e. .o he.e..-t
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490
Bloch begins by designating the recurring rhythmic fig-
ures in the melody with letters a-e, and he points out that a
different melodic interval is introduced every half measure.
The brackets above the staves indicate the "rhythmic division"
of each melodic fragment, and to the right appear annotations
referring to the "melodic progression." Thus, Bloch associ-
ated with "unity" the recurrence of basic rhythmic figures in
the melody; with "variety," the introduction of new interval-
lie patterns into the melodic writing; and with "progression,"
the motion of melodic contour from one phrase to the next. He
remarks at the bottom of the loose sheet:
One sees it: In spite of the similarity and unity of
the groups--and their subordination to the whole--
each group is different--in form and direction of
line like the inflexions of voice in a speech.
The portion of the manuscript devoted to the music
of Debussy consists of a series of double leaves which are
numbered independently from those reproduced above. Pages
1-7 contain excerpts from Pelleas et including
the beginning of the orchestral introduction to Act One,
and the opening portion of the second scene. On pages 8-
10, Bloch examined passages from "Nuages"--the first move-
ment of the Nocturnes. As in the analysis of the Musorgsky
songs, Bloch's principal interest directed at various
points of structural continuity. Reproduced below is his
study of the initial measures of the second scene from
,.
Pelleas (pages 3-4 of the manuscript) .
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491
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493
Bloch noticed a certain symmetry in the instrumen-
tal parts between measures 1-2 and measures 3-4 on page 4.
Similarly, he observed that the motion from e to d in an
inner orchestral voice in measures 4 and 5 on page 4 was a
repetition of that in measure 6 on page 3. He further
identified the rhythm of tpe vocal line in measure 6 on
page 4 as closely related to that in measure 4 on the same
page. At the bottom of page 3, he remarked:
Again, the whole Scene II ought to be studied. It
is entirely "constructed" and all essential true
principles of CONFIGURATION may be found--like in a
"symphonic work"--though subordinated to the drama
The manuscripts representing Bloch's work in musi-
cal analysis form an uncommon pedagogical bequest; there
are few composers who left such extensive analytical stu-
dies. It is also remarkable that these analyses were large-
ly undertaken independent of a specific need, but rather in
a personal quest of continuing study in the composer's
art. One is reminded of parallel cases in which the work
of other eminent composers--Bach, Beethoven, Verdi,
Stravinsky--was in later years marked by an increasing fas-
cination with the musical heritage. Some of the manu-
scripts in the collection date from Bloch's student days,
and it is evident that many of the projects completed in
the 1940s represent a culmination of several decades of
494
study. Analysis was a matter of life long interest and con-
cern for Bloch--a testimony to the vital role which works
by the great masters of the past played in every stage of
the didactic scheme.
As singular as the manuscripts themselves are the
means of inquiry applied to them. Particularly noteworthy
is Bloch's method of using sketch material, an early ver-
sion, or (as in the Studies in Configuration) his own re-
visions to establish an objective basis for comparison.
Above all, he demanded of himself an astounding familiarity
with the piece in question, often achieved only by commit-
ting it enitrely to memory. His concern was not to estab-
lish a descriptive understanding of a work; he sought to
come to terms with the very process by which it had been
written. In short, he was guided here, as in all his
didactic writings, by the perspective of the creative
artist.
495
Footnotes
1
Gustav Nottebohm, Zweite Beethoveniana (Leipzig und
Winterthur: J. Bieter-Biedermann, 1887).
2
Suzanne Bloch, "Ernest Bloch Pedagogue," Ernest Bloch
Society Bulletin 9 (1976): 254.
3
rbid.
4
Ibid.
5
rbid.
6
rbid.
7
Ibid.
8
Gustav Nottebohm, Ein Skizzenbuch von Beethoven aus dem
Jahre 1803 (Leipzig: Breitkopf & Hartel, 1880).
9
For a complete listing of the contents of the sketch-
book, see Rachel W. Wade, "Beethoven's Eroica Sketchbook,"
Fontes Artis Musicae 24 (1977): 254-89.
10
Merle Armitage, ed., Schoenberg (Freeport, NY: Books
for Libraries Press, 1937).
11
b h . h .
Notte o m, Zwe1te Beet oven1ana.
12
New York Times, 24 July 1955.
CHAPTER VI
DISSEMINATION OF BLOCH'S TEACHING
The manuscripts discussed in the preceding chapters
form what we have described as a core of writings within
the total collection. Also included as part of the record
of Bloch's teaching, however, is a large body of papers
which pertain to other aspects of his didactic activity.
They are classroom notes.
As he did with other material, Bloch compiled the
classroom notes in a series of notebooks and folders. The
major part was in fact gathered in conjunction with specif-
ic classes and lectures: one finds, for example, notes for
introductory courses in music given at the University of
California, detailed accounts of instruction provided to
school children (including Bloch's own son and daughters)
in the early 1920s, and drafts for community education
courses. Often these notes consist not only of material
compiled in preparation of a given lecture, but also of
observations made afterwards as to the effectiveness of
certain concepts or methods. Also related to classroom
instruction are copies of various tests and assignments
496
497
that document the methodical basis of Bloch's teaching.
His work as an administrator is represented by another
series of papers; included here are discussions pertaining
to curricular matters and notes for committee meetings.
Bloch also kept placement exams and class rosters. They
are of particular interest because Bloch often added to
them his own impressions as to the aptitude of individual
pupils, some of whom were eventually to become prominent
figures on the musical scene.
In short, the classroom notes attest to the remark-
able diversity of Bloch's pedagogical activity, and they
will remain of significance for future research concerned
with these phases of his teaching. They are also valuable,
however, as a supplement to the core of writings. For
instance, some of the concepts integral to the discussion
of the teaching of composition are given their clearest and
most extensive formulation in the text of formal lectures,
where Bloch was obviously concerned with presenting his
ideas to a larger audience. The classroom notes also show
how portions of the "core" writings were occasionally in-
corporated in a teaching situation involving a wide variety
of students. Furthermore, one finds in the drafts prepared
for various lectures a uniquely vivid indication as to
Bloch's personality as a teacher: no doubt the sense of hu-
mor and the astounding intellectual energy evident in these
pages were equally manifest in his private instruction.
498
There are seven separate compilations of classroom notes in
the collection under consideration, but a much larger body
of this material is still in private possession at this
time.
As one examines the total collection of Bloch's
didactic writings, there emerges from its contents a
uniformity of pedagogical purpose that belies the variety
of material included: in essence, Bloch sought to culti-
vate in students at every stage of development a deeper
understanding of their own creative faculties and an abil-
ity to apply to each musical experience the utmost degree
of critical insight. The true measure of his commitment to
this ideal is documented in his deliberate compiling of a
record through which the substance of his teaching would be
passed on. But the legacy of Bloch's pedagogical activity
has also been preserved in another form--namely, in the
thoughts and writings of those who experienced his teaching
first hand. A few of his most prominent students have left
particularly detailed accounts, and I have had the good
fortune to be able to supplement these through personal
encounters.
One tribute to Bloch's teaching, in fact, is
included in the collection: a pair of volumes by Quincy
Porter, entitled Notes Taken in Classes of Ernest Bloch,
Summer 1922. In that season, the twenty-five year old
499
Porter (then in his second year of private study with
Bloch) attended a series of classes given by his mentor in
Ashland, New Hampshire. Classes met daily over a period of
several weeks, during which time Porter amassed a large
body of notes. At some point in his studies, he made a sec-
ond copy of this material by typing out the notes on sepa-
rate sheets. He paginated the sheets and gathered them in
two hand-bound volumes, adding to these a detailed index
and table of contents. Finally, it appears that he pre-
sented the volumes--consisting of nearly two-hundred pages
of text--to Bloch, who decided to preserve them with his
own didactic writings.
The two volumes are organized according to five
aspects of instruction, corresponding to the overall or-
ganization of the classes themselves: pedagogy, form,
counterpoint, harmony, and fugue. Porter was less exact,
however, in recording certain details of the class meet-
ings; Bloch himself noted on the cover of the first volume
that Porter's account was "not entirely accurate." Yet for
the most part, the principles and methods recorded by
Porter seem to correspond to those discussed in Bloch's own
writings, and to this extent the Notes provide a valuable
supplement as well as a testimony to the devotion and
industry which Bloch's teaching inspired. In a letter to a
colleague, dating from 1932, Porter wrote: "I learned more
from him than probably from any other teacher."
1
500
Interestingly enough, Porter was referred to Bloch
for private study in composition by another Bloch pupil,
one who had also been a fellow student at Yale: Roger
Sessions.
2
Sessions began his work with Bloch in Novem-
ber of 1919. But this actually represents only the first
stage of an association which spanned several decades, in-
volving simultaneous faculty appointments at the Cleveland
Institute (where Sessions was Bloch's assistant) from 1921-
25, and at Berkeley from 1945-52.
_Commensurate with his prominence in the scene of
twentieth-century music, considerable scholarly attention
has been given to Sessions's musical training, and a few
writers have dealt specifically with his studies under
Bloch.
3
Sessions himself recalled, in an article from
1965, that "the lessons [with Bloch] were very, very
important to me."
4
Nevertheless, these published ac-
counts of Bloch's instruction are generally less explicit
than one might wish in the case of this, his most cele-
brated pupil. Many of them date from later years when ties
of the work of teacher and student had patently loosened,
and thus, Sessions's studies with Bloch are often discussed
with restraint. Nevertheless, that their association was
anything but restrained ~ evident from an examination of
earlier writings; for example, Sessions made the following
comment in a letter to Bloch in 1921 after hearing a per-
formance of one of Bloch's string quartets:
501
I can never tell you what an overwhelming effect
your music had on me. I am one of the millions
who will always ge grateful without measure for your
wonderful music.
Suzanne Bloch mentioned in a recent conversation that her
father, in turn, had great respect for Sessions, "his most
gifted pupil."
6
Sessions was responsible for referring at least one
other prominent young composer to Bloch. Randall Thompson,
with whom I met in 1983, explained to me that he learned of
Bloch's teaching while on vacation in Amherst.
7
It was
the summer of 1920, and Thompson mentioned to Sessions
that, having just graduated from Harvard, he was looking
for a teacher--preferably one interested in the instruction
in counterpoint--with whom to continue his studies in
composition. Sessions then spoke of his experience with
Bloch, and by the fall of that year, Thompson had joined
him as a member of Bloch's studio.
Of course, as Thompson was to find out, the study
of sixteenth-century counterpoint was an integral part of
Bloch's teaching, and in Thompson's own mastery of the
discipline, both as a composer and a pedagogue, his debt to
Bloch is perhaps most evident.
8
But Thompson related
another aspect of his association with Bloch which was
decisive. Unlike some of his fellow students (such as
Porter and Sessions), Thompson did not follow Bloch to the
502
Cleveland Institute, and as a result his studies with Bloch
were curtailed. In the beginning of 1922, shortly after
the lessons with Bloch had come to an end, Thompson decided
to apply for a fellowship awarded annually by the American
Academy in Rome--one of the most prestigious prizes avail-
able to a young composer--which provided for a lengthy term
of study abroad. In preparing the application, he wrote to
his former teacher, inquiring whether Bloch would be wil-
ling to recommend him to the Academy. Thompson received
the following letter in reply:
9
WILL\BD 'i. CL\I'P.
MRS. 0.\ VIO Z. :'iOt:TU:"i, YrCE-PHE!;IDE:"iT
H. C. 0.\LTO:"i.
R:-;EST BLOCil
MUSICAL DmECTOR
HOWARD JR . \"'CF.-rRESIOE!'n MRS. FR..\:>"li:LY:-1 B.
W. 51:\CI::ilE. TRF-\:;t;r.ER DiRC.10R
MRS. GEORGE :i. SIIFR\\"1:'1, SF.CRET.\RY TELEPIIO:'iE
Mr Randall
3 Akron Street
Roxbury, ;;ass
My dear
February 10 1922
I just received your letter of the 8th
inst do not ;:;,ui te i..T.ow nhat to say. As much
as I i'iou:d like to halp you. I do not feel, after the
feu lessons we had together last year, that you are
ripe for entering the competi t:ion of t .. 'le Au:erican
--- AceLeiliy at Roffie. They state in their requirements
that the award "will be made only to a musician of
exceptional promise thcroughly trained in
technic." I could net sincerely attest to rour finished
training. The only thing I could say that ycu
were a. very serious student and that ycu studied with
me the primary for:us in music. iie never went through
the higher forms, fugue, sopata or the great
of ch<;:.<Jer or orchestral !.'1U3i0. Do you wish me to .
write t..long these lines? I gladly do it but
do not kno\'t whether it :ro u2 1 ilelp you.
The-best be for you to
send that wiJl for It is
possible that the progress you may have in
intervttl since you ':'forkt:d Rl tli rue has be..::n so r!:lp.!d
as to fit you for the ccndi tions required by the Fellox-
ship cc;;;;:;i !:.tee. If you are in doubt, jcu ca.n send me
a specil:len of .'.'hat you hE;.ve done I wi1l tell you
fran!<ly what I thin..< it.
kinde3t
Sincerely ycurs,
E3-b
504
In the end, Thompson made his application without
Bloch's assistance, and was in fact awarded first prize by
Academy. He spoke to me of his dismay at Bloch's judge-
mcnt, and of his subsequent resolution to prove himself
deserving, at any cost, of a higher estimation. There
an extended period of concentrated study during
which, Thompson recalled, he realized for the first time
the degree of industry necessary for the training of an
accomplished composer. Thus, in his later years he camE to
regard this exchange with Bloch as a turning point in his
career; it was, he said, "basically the making of me.
10
In addition to Thompson (and, later, Sessions as
well) ther was among Bl pupils in early 1920s
another young composer w.:o was awarded the Rome prize:
Herbert Elwell. In fact, the Rome fellowship was only one
of several distinctions accorded to Elwell in those years
which marked him as a figure who would one day achieve
great prominence with his works. It is clear from a series
of letters between Bloch and Elwell dating from 1921-24
(presently housed in the Library of Congress) that Bloch
thought very highly of this particular student.
11
After
studying with Bloch, Elwell was accepted into Boulanger's
studio as well, and no less an astute observer tha Aaron
Copland, in an article surveying the contemporary s;ene in
505
1926, named Elwell among sixteen other composers as
"America's young men of promise."
12
Elwell was eventually to become well-estabished in
the musical community, serving for many years as head of
the composition department of the Cleveland Institute and
as music critic for the Cleveland Plain Dealer. But he nev-
er gained the stature as a composer that had been predicted
for him; today even those works which earned him his early
recognition have been forgotten. Yet he remains of special
interest in the context of the present study because of a
collection of papers, reflecting his renewed contact with
Bloch in the 1950s, to which we will return at the end of
this chapter.
It would be impossible to account for every promis-
ing young composer who came to Bloch for instruction during
his first decade of residence in this country, for within
that period of time he established himself--first in New
York (1916-20), then at the Cleveland Institute (1920-25)--
as a major figure on the American scene. One has an indi-
cation of the extent of Bloch's influence from the situa-
tion at Cleveland, where, by dint of his very presence, a
newly-founded midwestern conservatory became temporary home
to some of the best minds of an entire generation of
American composers: Porter, Sessions, Theodore Chanler,
Mark Brunswick, Douglas Moore, Bernard Rogers, and others.
506
In those years Bloch often referr2d to the Institute as a
"colony," in recognition of this extrordinary gathering of
'f d . . 13
g1 te mus1c1ans.
Bloch's next faculty appointment--at the San Fran-
cisco Conservatory, where he was director from 1925-30--
was similar to that in Cleveland, though it was not blessed
with such a wealth of talented pupils. One respected
American composer who was enrolled at the Conservatory
during Bloch's tenure was Ernst Bacon. In a recent letter,
Bacon--now 87 years of age--recalled Bloch's teaching:
He loved praise, but it had to be unqualified.
As a teacher he was ruthlessly exacting to talent,
but tolerant to ordinariness.
I was not officially a student of his, but I
attended counterpoint classes briefly. These were
devoted entirely to 2 part writing in the manner of
Lassus. He himself wrote hundreds of studies along
this line. One day he beamed, "Last night I did as
well as Lassus might have--that is with a
bellyache."
I had one private lesson only--to which I
brought a fugue. He stopped at the theme and spent
the next 1 1/2 hours discoursing on it
14
It was a
great lesson, a study in thoroughness.
A second letter contained an even more revealing tribute:
Bloch was one of music's greatest radicals,
scorning not alone the indecencies of music but of
politics, the media, the whole vulgarian shebang
that mouths democracy when meaning mediocrity,
patriotism when meaning greed, technology devoid of
humanity. He was a Jeremiah, lacking only the
resonance of deserved fame and time.
5
know of no
contemporary more passionately honest.
507
In 1930, as has been mentioned, Bloch became the
beneficiary of a trust fund from a private donor which
allowed him for a specified period of ten years to devote
himself solely to composing. He gave up the directorship
of the San Francisco Conservatory, deciding to spend the
ten-year term in Europe. And with the departure from his
adopted homeland, the most illustrious stage of Bloch's
teaching career came to a close. For the circumstances
which marked his return to the classroom in 1940--when he
assumed a chair on the faculty of the University of
California--were altogether different from those he had
known in his previous appointments.
For one thing, at Berkeley (in contrast to the
positions he held in the 1920s) Bloch's duties consisted
almost exclusively of classroom instruction, involving
relatively little contact with advanced students in com-
position. Furthermore, it seems that Bloch, who in many
ways embodied the spirit and traditions of the nineteenth
century, had a certain difficulty relating to a younger
generation of pupils. But what surely weighed most heavily
upon him in these years was the realization that he and his
works had fallen victim to a pronounced change in musical
fashion. Bloch had left America in 1930 as one of this
country's reigning masters; he returned a decade later to
find other composers (including some of his European col-
leagues) and other styles of composition at the fore.
508
Bloch was never fully able to make peace with these de-
velopments, and this had a profound effect on his attitude
towards the situation at Berkeley.
I had an opportunity to discuss Bloch's time at
Berkeley with two composers who attended the University
during his tenure there, Earl Kim and Leon Kirchner (both
16
presently on the faculty at Harvard). Kim stressed at
the outset that he did not know Bloch well. Apparently
their most extensive contact came in a semester-long semi-
nar taught by Bloch to a se+ect group of student composers,
to which Kim brought, on one occasion, a recent piece he
had written using the twelve-tone method. Bloch, Kim re-
calls, immediately spoke quite critically of dodecaphonic
procedures, and dismissed the piece out of hand. Kim told
me that in general he believes Bloch was not very influen-
tial in the 1940s, since at that time a far greater amount
of influence emanated from Schoenberg, with whom he studied
at the University of California at Los Angeles.
Kirchner (who was a member of the same seminar, and
studied with Schoenberg as well) explained that he, unlike
many of his fellow students at Berkeley, came to know Bloch
fairly well, working for a time as Bloch's assistant. And
he referred to Bloch as "one of the great teachers I've had
in any field." Asked if there had been a specific techni-
cal or methodical aspect of Bloch's instruction that was
particularly influential, Kirchner pointed out--and this
509
might be taken as the essential thrust of our
conversation--that our notion of influence should not be
limited ''only to the didactic things"; what made the great-
est impression on him at the time was Bloch's presence and
stature as an artist, his intellectual breadth and energy.
Talking with Bloch, Kirchner said, "was really to be in
competition with a master." Kirchner referred to this as
"influence of the deepest kind." One can easily imagine
that Bloch had a similar impact on students in every stage
of his teaching.
There is another factor to consider in assessing
the nature and extent of Bloch's influence in later years:
by 1940 many of those who had studied with him in New York
and Cleveland had themselves assumed prominent positions in
American institutions of higher learning, and this led to a
wider dissemination of his ideas. Bernard Rogers, for in-
stance, served on the faculty of the Eastman School of
Music for nearly forty years. David Diamond, one of
Roger's students, recalled during a recent conversation
that in virtually every lesson with Rogers there was some
mention of Bloch or Bloch's teaching.
17
Diamond has similar recollections of his lessons
with Roger Sessions, with whom he took up studies in 1934.
They are confirmed by what we know of Sessions's teaching
from other sources--particularly Sessions's own didactic
writings. For example, in the introduction to his
510
Harmonic Practice, Sessions is explicit in acknowledging
Bloch's influence on his method of instruction:
I owe the greatest personal debt, of course, to the
latter [Bloch], who in fact--and from quite liter-
ally the first ten minutes of my study with him--
showed me the path along which my thoughts and
impulses with respect to harmony were to
1
5ravel in
the thirty-one years that have followed.
But even in writings where Bloch is not explicitly men-
tioned, Sessions reveals an orientation that in its prin-
ciples is strikingly reminiscent of that of his former
teacher. One might point in particular to Sessions's con-
viction that a teacher must "respect the personalities of
his pupils, and ... seek to develop those personalities
and not to mold them";
19
or to his regard for knowledge
of the musical literature as "an essential part of the
20
equipment of every composer." His association with
Bloch is reflected as he speaks about the conditions of
study that are most beneficial to the composition student:
. . . a young composer who is in the early stages of
his development is almost certain to derive more
benefit from association with an older colleague who
takes a real interest in him, and with whom he can
talk freely and informally about his own problems,
about music and musical questions in general, and
about many other matters not so obviously connected
With muzC, than from almost any other single
source.
Andrea Olmstead, who devotes a special section to the sub-
ject of Sessions's teaching in her recent biography of the
511
composer, stresses how closely this corresponds to the ac-
tual circumstances of his work with Bloch.
22
Quincy Porter, whose distinguished teaching career
involved faculty appointments at the New England Conserva-
tory and Yale, issued writings the very titles of which re-
veal the close connection between his didactic methods and
those of Bloch: A Study of Sixteenth-Century Counterpoint
Based on the Works of Orlando di Lasso, and A Study of
Fugue Writing Based on Bach's Well-Tempered Clavichord.
23
Descriptions of Porter's teaching provide similar evidence
of Bloch's influence.
24
Yet Rogers, Sessions, and Porter
are but a few of those who handed down the tradition of
Bloch's teaching. If one considers the many fine composers
who learned their craft from this first generation of Bloch
pupils and eventually assumed positions in which they
passed on aspects of Bloch's instruction to another genera-
tion--that, in turn, has made its own mark in the teaching
ranks--one senses the magnitude of Bloch's contribution to
the American musical scene.
In 1952, at the age of seventy-two, Bloch retired
from his position at Berkeley; his affiliation with the
University is commemorated by a faculty chair in his name.
He spent his retirement in relative seclusion at his horne
in Agate Beach, Oregon, and it is in connection with this
final stage of his career that we must turn our attention
512
again to the collection of papers gathered by Herbert
Elwell.
This material was left by Elwell to the library of
the Cleveland Institute, and has been recently transferred
to the Sibley Music Library of the Eastman School of
Music. It may be divided into three parts. The first
consists of programs from miscellaneous concerts featuring
Bloch's music and of several published articles on Bloch
written by Elwell and other authors. A second portion is
comprised of notes and writings which Elwell made in
preparation of various journalistic projects pertaining to
Bloch--work done largely in conjunction with his position
as music critic for the Cleveland Plain Dealer. The final
and most valuable portion of the collection consists of
papers resulting from a correspondence between Bloch and
Elwell from 1953-55; included are six letters from Bloch,
and drafts of the letters which Elwell wrote in return.
Judging from the tone of their letters, it seems unlikely
that these constitute the only contact Elwell had with his
former teacher in the decades following the completion of
his studies; indeed, it is evident from reference to dates
that not even the correspondence of 1953-55 is preserved in
its entirety. But Elwell obviously regarded this particu-
lar series of letters--evidently the most important part of
his correspondence with Bloch--as especially significant.
It was apparently Elwell who initiated the exchange
513
of letters. In the later months of 1953 he had heard a new
work of Bloch's performed by the Cleveland Orchestra under
George Szell, and the event prompted him to write to his
former teacher. It is worth quoting from the draft of
Elwell's letter at length because its contents reveal much
about the nature of the correspondence that was to follow;
moreover, the draft--written some thirty years after
Elwell's actual term of study--is in itself a striking
testimony to the lasting impact Bloch had on his students.
A
Mon cher maitre,
Quel grand plaisir d'entendre votre Sinfonia
Breve! And what a magnificent work--not only in its
conciseness but in the breadth and depth of its im-
plications! This is indeed an inspiring example for
us, your former students, who have long believed in
you and looked to you for guidance. I, for one, was
profoundly impressed and extremely happy over your
triumph. By this I mean not only the performance
and the reception here .... But by triumph I mean
above all the creative triumph of penetrating new
stratas of thought and feeling, of reaching out and
coming to grips with new problems, and best of all,
finding their solution not by renouncing the methods
and ideals of the past but by extending them to meet
and overcome the difficulties of the present. It
was this sense of continuity and natural evolution
in your new work that gave me such a strong feeling
of orientation and hope ..
My 25 years in Cleveland has given me what one
might call "a sense of history," and I suspect I am
now one of the very few persons here who realize
that Cleveland music really began with Ernest
Bloch. To you, Cleveland may seem far in the past
and not important. But where one has sown seeds one
can expect fruit. Often I have felt that the soil
here is not very fertile. In fact as far as I per-
sonally am concerned, there have been long periods
of complete sterility, where I have felt defeated by
the environment. But as Nadia Boulanger once said,
"everybody belongs somewhere," and now I suppose I
belong here and must be content with the fact that
my work is not much recognized elsewhere.
514
It makes me happy to feel that perhaps I also
belong to a tradition which was inaugurated here by
you. I like to feel that there is some connection
and continuity of ideals between what was once
projected by you and what now transpires .
I am often in touch with other former pupils of
yours like Bernard Rogers and George Antheil. We
often speak of you, and believe me it is with rever-
ence and affection. If there is such thing as the
American school, it is you who have founded it.
Words are so inadequate and please forgive my
inadequacy in trying to talk about your work. I
have tried to live up to the privilege of being one
of your pupils, and I think perhaps I have made some
progress in the last thing I did, which Szell was
kind enough to perform earlier this season. I
thought gu might be interested, so I am enclosing a
program.
Bloch was moved by Elwell's letter. But passages
of his reply to Elwell (dated 10 December 1953) also show
that he had begun to consider this renewed exchange as part
of a larger design.
Mon cher ami:
You cannot realize what your splendid letter--
as well as your remarkable article in the Pl.
Dealer--mean to me! ... I could and ought to write
you a 20 page letter because I have so much to tell
you. . We ought to meet. If there were a chance
of your coming out here, we have room for you, you
could be our guest for as long as you care. I would
show you the tremendous pedagogic work I did in
Berkeley--when no one understood, nor cared!--in
analysis of Beethoven, sketches, Eroica, etc. on
Bach fugues--12 years of qrduous work of which you
have no idea. This work is as important as all my
creative work. I tried to understand the psycho-
logical principles--or laws?--at the back of our
musical language. Some day it must be published.
But, at my age, I fear that, after me, it will be
totally distorted by those in the hands of whom it
may fall ... And now, after your letter, I feel that
you may be the onl
6
one able to understand what I
"have been after."
515
Having thus planted the seeds for a project in-
volving his pedagogical writings, Bloch must have been
delighted to receive Elwell's reply. The draft of this
subsequent letter shows that Elwell accepted Bloch's
invitation for a visit to Oregon, and proposed that they
might meet in the late spring of 1954. But even more
important, he responded readily to the idea of working on
the didactic material:
There is much I would like to discuss with you about
yourself and your work, and I will be frank. Being
on a newspaper, I would like some of your thoughts
for publication. But I am not coming merely for an
"interview" or as a reporter. Whatever you wish to
hold in confidence I will respect, please believe
me.
I will come more as a student and a disciple,
and, above all, an ardent admirer of your music. I
look forward eagerly to the privilege of exploring
with you the possibilities of doing whatever you
wish to be done with your pedagogical material,
which I know must be of inestimable value. I
sincerely hope I may be of some service to you in
this matter, and whatever time it may t a ~ 7 I will
gladly arrange at your convenience . . .
Elwell met with Bloch in Agate Beach in May of
1954, when he saw the astounding collection of manuscripts
for the first time. In the draft of a letter to Bloch
thanking him for the visit in Oregon, Elwell writes:
What will not pass away is the sense of received
friendship and of renewed creative energy through
contact with your ideas and principles. It is with
the consciousness of their importance that I welcome
the privilege of writing about them and collaborating
with you in an effort to preserve an2
8
interpret them
without falsification for posterity.
516
When in preparing for a second visit to Agate Beach, Elwell
wrote again to Bloch (the draft of the letter is dated 16
July 1954), the project was in fact underway.
I am now making as many notes as I have time
for in preparation for starting the book, and I am
j o t t ~ ~ g down questions which I shall want to ask
you.
It is difficult to determine the events that fol-
lowed, for Elwell's record does not give us a full account.
We know, however, that a book on Bloch's pedagogical writ-
ings was never completed. There is an undated draft of a
letter in the collection, in which it is evident that
Elwell was--at a relatively early stage in his work--
beginning to have doubts about the project:
Dear Ernest,
The more I contemplate the task of writing a
book about you, the more I begin to feel my
inadequacies. As I read the many articles on you
and your music, I am a little dismayed, because
others seem to ~ v said much better than I can what
should be said.
Suzanne Bloch recalls having met with Elwell during these
years, and that he was overwhelmed by the number of manu-
scripts included in her father's collected writings.
31
In the later months of 1955 the correspondence between
Bloch and Elwell evidently carne to an end--and with it, the
plans for publication. But among the Elwell papers is a
manuscript of three pages entitled "preface." There is
little question that it represents the opening of Elwell's
517
projected work, and in the portions quoted below, his point
of departure is formulated:
Preface
. One of the first questions a pupil would
ask of Bloch, as pupils continue to ask of other
teachers today, was "What textbook do you use?"
Bloch's brusque reply was this: "I use no text-
book. Throw all of your textbooks out the window.
They are useless." There is reason to suspect that
this sacrificial summons was not acted upon fully
and literally by all of his pupils. Some of them
may have dumped a load of books in the street and
gone unarmed and uncontaminated to their next lesson
with the bright hope of acquiring a new and better
set of rules if not a complete spiritual rebirth.
But some of them undoubtedly retained on their
shelves one or two old harmony books, just in case
the going with Bloch should become a bit too rough.
And rough it was for those who sought forumlas
instead of liberating principles .
It is not to be wondered at that there are few
pupils of Bloch who could be called his disciples in
the best sense, composers who assimilated his ideas
cbmpletely enough to be able to carry them on, to
extend and expand them in an unbroken continuity of
tradition. This is certainly not because his teach-
ing lacked conciseness and clarity. It is rather
because its profundity prevented one from seeing the
bottom, from grasping the full import of its dimen-
sion and implications. It was teaching character-
ized more by the quality of inspiration than of
methodic organization, and in an era which clamored
for mechanistic crutches and short-cuts in music, as
in all branches of education, much of what he had to
offer fell on deaf ears.
If the soil has been infertile and unready for
the seed of Bloch's pedagogy, this is all the more
reason w h y

~ t should be preserved in some permanent

form .
Elwell then raises the question whether he, as
Bloch's spokesman, might be embarked upon the very thing
Bloch "reviled and rejected"--a textbook. The answer he
gives is equivocal:
518
. the present volume has not been written by
Bloch. It is merely a compilation of his observa-
tions, his experiments, and his exercises accumu-
lated throughout a lif3
3
time of the most selfless
and diligent research.
Thus it may not only have been the mass of material to be
covered but the conflict arising from the need of combining
the original text with paraphrase or commentary that may
have deterred Elwell in the end.
But while Bloch's writings remained unpublished,
the many tributes by those who knew his teaching first
hand, the accounts of his instruction from secondary
sources, and pedagogical writings which are rooted in his
methods show that Bloch's didactic legacy extends beyond
the contents of this remarkable collection; it is in fact
an indelible part of this country's musical life. Still,
Bloch's teaching has not received a degree of recognition
entirely commensurate with his contribution. Ironically,
this lack may be due precisely to those factors which made
his teaching so valuable to the young American composer:
he sought to establish no readily discernible "school" of
composing; he neither prescribed nor advocated a specific
technical approach to composition. The "school" he estab-
lished was of a different kind. From the vantage point of
an age in which the role of the teacher-composer is no
longer an exception, it is difficult to appreciate Bloch's
innovation. The art of composition had been thriving for
centuries on the direct exchange between master and pupil,
519
but this tradition had become obscured by the rise of
textbook theory. Bloch was among those who restored it.
Moreover, it was he who brought it to the New World.
In trying to describe Bloch's particular mission,
we might refer to a passage from Emerson's essay The
American Scholar (Collected Essays, 1934):
Our day of dependence, our long apprenticeship to
the learning of other lands draws to a close. The
millions that around us are rushing into life cannot
always be fed on the sere remains of foreign har-
vests. Events, actions arise, that must be sung,
that will sing themselves. Who can doubt that
poetry will revive and lead in a new age, as the
star in the constellation Harp, which now flames in
our zenith, astronomers announce, shall one day be
the pole-star for a thousand years.
The simplicity of the evolutionary process was here some-
what overstated: we are concerned with a merging of cul-
tures, rather than a straight departure, and the influence
proved reciprocal.
As an adopted citizen of this country Bloch not
only contributed to the development of the American musical
scene but the American musical scene had a great impact on
his development as well: though Bloch had been active as a
pedagogue in Europe, it was only in response to the rich-
ness of his experience in the United States that he began
the systematic gathering of his didactic writings. The
body of fugal studies collected from private students in
New York formed a striking first chapter; even more re-
vealing of his manner of instruction is the series of
520
manuscript books compiled in conjunction with duties at the
Cleveland Institute, representing his formulation of the
disciplines of harmony, counterpoint, and fugue. Yet his
later writings--specifically, the contrapuntal studies done
in San Francisco and the analyses dating from the 1940s and
1950s (the major part of the collection)--are less directly
related to actual teaching situations, and one concludes
that these projects have their origins in some deeper, more
personal initiative on Bloch's part. For in a manner equal
to the merging of European and American impulses, the merg-
ing of the roles of teacher and student distinguishes
Bloch's work. In this respect, his "school" restored an-
other tradition of fundamental importance. Knud Jeppesen
had pointed out that, with the text of his famous Gradus ad
Parnassum, Johann_Joseph Fux was the first to adopt a his-
torical perspective in the teaching of composition by de-
claring himself a student--symbolically casting himself in
the role of Josephus, "the pupil [of Aloysius, i.e. Pale-
t
. ] h . h 1 h f . . "
34
s r1na w o w1s es to earn t e art o compos1t1on.
The tradition of instruction initiated by Fux is charac-
terized by a historical awareness wherein the craft of the
masters of the past is recognized not only for its artistic
valLe, but also for what it can offer to the training of
the contemporary composer.
Bloch's work represents an emphatic continuation of
the historical orientation in the didactic process. Like
521
Fux, he based his instruction on the style of the Renais-
sance masters. But similarly he used the works of Bach, as
well as those by composers ranging from Josquin to Wagner,
Musorgsky, and Debussy. The historical perspective is ap-
plied in service of all aspects of instruction, and the mu-
sic of both the distant and the recent past are examined in
the approach to a pedagogy of composition formulated for
the present time, an approach that turns pedagogy to
learning.
Bloch disarmingly epitomizes his didatic creed in a
passage from a lecture he delivered at the University of
California in 1947:
I have no desire to impose any one of my ideas upon
you. I will tell you what they are and how I have
arrived at them, but it is for you to discover for
yourself w h a t

~ s true. I am like you a

student . . .
522
Footnotes
1
willard Kent Hall, "Quincy Porter: His Life and
Contribution as a Composer and Educator (1897-1966) ,"
(D.M.A. Thesis, University of Missouri, 1970), p. 4.
2
see Roger Session to Ernest Bloch, 3 March 1921, Bloch
Collection, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. In the
letter, Sessions recommends Porter to Bloch as a prospec-
tive student.
3
For discussion Sessions's studies with Bloch, see Edward
T. Cone, "Conversation with Roger Sessions," in Perspec-
tives on American Composers, ed. Benjamin Boretz and Edward
T. Cone (New York: W.W. Norton & Co., Inc., 1971); Andrea
Olmstead, Roger Sessions and His Music (Ann Arbor, MI: UMI
Research Press, 1985).
4
Cone, "Conversation with Roger Sessions," p. 95.
5
Roger Sessions to Ernest Bloch, 3 March 1921, Bloch
Collection, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
6
Interview with Suzanne Bloch, June 1985.
7
Interview with Randall Thompson, October 1983.
8
see the essays included in Randall Thompson: A Choral
Legacy, ed. Alfred Mann (Boston: E.C. Schirmer Music
Company, 1983), particularly Randall Thompson, "Writing for
the Amateur Chorus," Idem, "On Contrapuntal Technique", and
James Haar, "Randall Thompson and the Music of the Past."
9
Ernest Bloch to Randall Thompson, 10 February 1922.
Personal Files of Randall Thompson.
10
rnterview with Randall Thompson, October 1983.
11
The Bloch Collection, Library of Congress, Washington,
D.C.
12
Aaron Copland,
Music 3 (1926):
"America's Young Men of Promise," Modern
13.
13
See Ernest Bloch to Herbert Elwell, undated, Bloch
Collection, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
14
Ernst Bacon, personal letter, 17 February 1985.
15
Idem, personal letter, 6 April 1985.
523
16
Interview with Earl Kim, April 1985; interview with
Leon Kirchner, June 1985.
17
Interview with David Diamond, July 1985.
18
Roger Sessions, Harmonic Practice (New York: Harcourt,
Brace, and Company, 1951), p. xiii.
19
Roger Sessions, "The Composer in the University," in
Roger Sessions on Music, ed. Edward T. Cone (Princeton,
NJ: Princeton University Press, 1979), p. 202.
20
Idem, "What Can Be Taught?," in Roger Sessions on
Music, p. 225.
21
b'd 223 I 1 ., p. .
22
Olmstead, Roger Sessions and His Music, p. 94.
23
Quincy Porter, A study of Sixteenth-Century Counter-
point Based on the Works of Orlando di Lasso (Boston:
Loomis & Co., 1940); A Study of Fugue Writing Based on
Bach's Well-Tempered Clavichord (Boston: Loomis & Co.,
1951); see also "The Functions of a Progressive Department
of Theory," The Musician 32 (October 1927): 14.
24
see Hall, "Quincy Porter: His Life and Contribution";
Garry E. Clarke, "Quincy Porter: Composer-Educator," in
Essays on American Music (Westport, CN: Greenwood Press,
Inc., 1977)
25
Herbert Elwell to Ernest Bloch, undated draft, Sibley
Library, Rochester, NY.
26
Ernest Bloch to Herbert Elwell, 10 December 1953,
Sibley Music Library, Rochester, NY.
27
Elwell to Bloch, undated draft, Sibley Music Library,
Rochester, NY.
28
Idem, undated draft, Sibley Music Library Rochester,
NY.
29
Idem, draft 16 July 1954, Sibley Music Library,
Rochester, NY.
30
Idem, undated draft, Sibley Music Library Rochester,
NY.
31
Interview with Suzanne Bloch, June 1985.
524
32
Herbert Elwell, "Preface," Elwell Collection, Sibley
Music Library, Rochester, NY.
33
rbid.
34
Johann Joseph Fux, The Study of Counterpoint, trans.
Alfred Mann (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc, 1971),
p. 18.
35
Suzanne Bloch, "Ernest Bloch Pedagogue," Ernest Bloch
Society Bulletin 9 (1976): 253.
525
APPENDIX
Inventory of the Collection
Applied Harmony
Counterpoint 2 Parts
Strict III Part-counterpoint
{including "Studies in Configuration")
Books I - VII, IX {studies in two-part counterpoint)
Books I - II {studies in three-part counterpoint)
Fugue {Examples--from pupils)
Fugue I
{incJuding "Studies in Configuration")
DlS
Fugue I--
F1 {"La Forme musicale"; "Studies in Configuration")
F2 {"Studies in Configuration")
Ciavecin bien Tempere Etudes des Expositions {blue folder)
Clavecin bien e m p ~ r ~ Etudes des Expositions {gray folder)
Fugues of the W.T. Clavichord
Schemes of Fugues {spiral-bound notebook)
Analyses diverse
Methodic Study of Bach Chorales
Beethoven Symphonie III Eroica op. 55
Eroica notes diverse schemes etc.
Symphony III Special Studies all 4 mvts.
Premiers Feuillets d'Analyse de l'Eroica
Beethoven's Sketches--Misell. Notes
Leonore Overtures No. 2 and No. 3 Comparative Studies
Etudes de Forme
Notes to the Teachers of Theory, Cleveland 1920
Notes taken in classes of Ernest Bloch {Quincy Porter)
The Esthetics of the Musical Language
Music--1920 Teacher's Rports
Material Course, 1950, 1951
Tests, U. of Cal.--1944, 1946, 1947
Miscellaneous Notes {Berkeley Courses 1943)
Berkeley Course 1947 - 48
U. of Cal. 1942--Seminar in Composition
{This listing does not include several portions housed at the
Library of Congress or still in possession of the family.)
526
BIBLIOGRAPHY
I. Biography
Bloch, Ernest. Biography and Comment. San Francisco:
Mary Morgan, Co., 1925.
Bloch, Suzanne. "Ernest Bloch." Musical America 76
(February 1956): 22-23, 192.
Boatwright, Howard. "Quincy Porter." ACA Bulletin 6 (#3
1957): 2-5.
Cahn, Peter. "Hindemith's Lehrjarhe in Frankfukrt."
Hindemith Jahrbuch 2 (1972): 23-47.
Chiesa, Mary Tibaldi. Ernest Bloch. Torino: G. B.
Paravia, 1933.
Diamond, David. "Bernard Rogers." Musical Quarterly 33
(1947): 207-27.
Elwell, Herbert.
(Winter 1946):
"Quincy Porter."
20-26.
Modern Music 23
Goldman, Richard Franko. "Leon Kirchner." Musical
616-19. Quarterly 35 (1949):
Hall, Willard Kent. "Quincy Porter: His Life and
Contribution as a Composer and Educatory (1897-1966) ."
D.M.A. thesis. University of Missouri, 1970.
Hanson, Howard.
April 1945):
"Bernard Rogers." Modern Music 22 (March-
170-75.
Kushner, David Z. "Ernest Bloch: A Retrospective on the
Centenary of his Birth." College Music Symposium 20
(Fall 1980): 77-86.
Olmstead, Andrea. Roger Sessions and His Music. Ann
Arbor, MI: UMI Research Press, 1985.
Porter, Quincy.
June 1942):
"Randall Thompson."
237-42.
Modern Music 19 (May-
Ringer, Alexander L. "Leon Kirchner." Musical Quarterly
43 (1957): 1-20.
Schwager, Myron. Contribution to the Biography of
Ernest Bloch: Letters at the University of Hartford."
Current 28 (1979): 45.
527
Strassburg, Robert. Ernest Bloch: Voice in the
Wilderness. Los Angeles: The Trident Shop, 1977.
Zenck-Mauer, Claudia. Ernst Krenek; ein Komponist im Exil.
Elisabeth Lafitte Verlag, 1980.
II. Historical Studies
Alderman, Pauline. "Arnold Schoenberg at USC." Journal of
the Arnold Schoenberg Institute 5 (1981): 203-10.
Annuaire du Conservatoire Royal de Musique de Bruxelles,
Vols. 20-22. Bruxelles: Librairie Scientifique E.
Ramlet, 1896-99.
Bloch, Suzanne. "Ernest Bloch--Student of Choral Music."
American Choral Review 10 (Winter 1968): 51-54.
Bochet, Henri. Le Conservatoire de Musique de Geneva.
Geneva: N.p., 1935
Cahn, Peter. Das Hoch'sche Konservatorium in Frankfurt am
Main (1878-1978). Frankfurt am Main: Waldemar Kramer,
1979.
Clarke, Garry E. "Quincy Porter: Composer-Educator." In
Essays on American Music. Westport, CN: Greenwood
Press, Inc., 1977.
Chapman, Ernest.
6.
"Ernest Bloch at 75." Tempo 35 (1955):
Copland, Aaron. "America's Young Men of Promise." Modern
Music 3 (1926): 13.
Elwell, Herbert. "Ernest Bloch: Composer in Exile."
Musical Courier 152 (October, 1955): 8-10.
Engel, Carl. "Bloch and the Library of Congress." Musical
America 48 (November 1928): 6.
Hamm, Charles. Music in the New World. New York: W. W.
Norton & Co., Inc., 1983
Ives, Charles E.
Inc., 1972.
Krenek, Ernst.
Composers."
112-17.
M.emos. New York: W. W. Norton & Co.,
"America's Influence on its Emigre
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528
Krenek, Ernst. "Tradition in Perspective." Perspectives
of New Music 1 (1962): 27-38.
Sessions, Roger. "Schoenberg in the United States." Tempo
103 (1972): 8.
Skelton, Geoffrey. "The Teacher and his American
Students." Hindemith Jahrbuch 4 (1974) 97-110.
Wells, Alan. "Schoenberg's Class at USC." Journal of the
Arnold Schoenberg Institute 4 (1980): 50-69.
III. Criticism
Bialas, Gunther. "Ist Komponieren Lehrbar?" Musica 35
(1981): 327-28.
Bloch, Ernest.
Education."
"Ernest Bloch Surveys the Problem of Music
Musical America 28 (May 1921): 3, 40.
"Man and Music." Musical Quarterly 14 (1933):
374-81.
Bloch, Ernest. "Thoughts at 70." Etude 69 (February
1951): 9-10,57.
Bloch, Suzanne. Ernest Bloch: Creative Spirit. New
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"Ernest Bloch Pedagogue." Ernest Bloch Society
Bulletin 9 (1976).
Breuer, Janos. "Arnold Schoenberg pedagogai koncepciaja
I." Parlando 22 (May 1980): 8-12.
"Campus Focus: The Composer in Academia: Reflections on a
Theme of Stravinsky." College Music Symposium 10
(1970): 55-98.
Cone, Edward T. "Conversation with Roger Sessions." In
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Boretz and Edward T. Cone. New York: W. W. Norton &
Co . , Inc . , 19 71 .
Cowell, Henry. American Composers on American Music.
N.p.: Stanford University Press, 1933.
"Teaching as a Composer's Craft." Composer's
News-Record 9 (Spring, 1949): 1.
529
Forbes, Elliott. "The Music of Randall Thompson." In
Randall Thompson: A Choral Legacy. Edited by Alfred
Mann. Boston: E. C. Schirmer, 1983.
Goehr, Alexander. "The Theoretical Writings of Arnold
Schoenberg." Proceedings of the Royal Musical
Association 100 (1973-74): 85-96.
"The Theoretical Writings of Arnold Schoenberg."
Perspectives of New Music 13 (1974): 3-14.
Haar, James. "Randall Thompson and the MuSic of the
Past." In Randall Thompson: A Choral Legacy. Edited
by Alfred Mann. Boston: E. C. Schirmer, 1983.
Hindemith, Paul.
Limitations.
1953.
A Composer's World: Horizons and
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Krenek, Ernst.
35 (1981):
"Ist Komponieren lehrbar-lernbar?"
350-51.
"New Methods in Teaching Counterpoint."
Hirichsen's Musical Yearbook 7 (1952): 116-28.
Musica
"Teaching as a Composer's Craft." Composer's
News-Record (Spring 1949): 1.
Music Composition in America:
Reminiscences." American Music Teacher 24 (March
1975): 6-11.
"What We Learn fromModern Music." American
Music Teacher 21 (June 1972): 16-18 .
.
Kushner, David Z. "Ernest Bloch: Teacher-Thinker."
American Music Teacher 18 (January 1968): 29-30.
Langlie, Warren M. "Arnold Schoenberg as Teacher." Ph.D.
dissertation, University of California at Los Angeles,
1960.
"Arnold Schoenberg as Music Educator." In Arnold
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Lowens, Irving R. Foreward to Critical and Historical
Essays by Edward MacDowell, by W. J. Baltzell. (New
York: DaCapo Press, 1969.
Mann, Alfred. The Study of Fugue. New York: W. W. Norton
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530
Musgrave, Michael. "Schoenberg and Theory."
the Arnold Schoenberg Institute 4 (1980):
Journal of
34-40.
Newlin, Dika. "Schoenberg in America 1933-48: Retrospect
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Pisk, Paul A. "Arnold Schoenberg as Teacher." American
Society of University Composers 2 (1967): 51-53.
"Arnold Schoenberg the Teacher." American Music
Teacher 24 (February 1975): 12-13.
Piston, Walter. "Teaching as a Composer's Craft."
Composer's News-Record 9 (Spring 1949): 1.
Porter, Quincy.
of Theory."
"The Functions of a Progressive Department
The Musician 32 (October 1927): 14.
"What Can Europe Offer American Composers?"
Musician 19 (May-June 1932): 7.
Purswell, Joan. "Ernest Bloch: Composer, Conductor,
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Smither, Howard Elbert. "Theory of Rhythm in the ~ n
teenth and Twentieth Centuries with a Contribution to
the Theory of Rhythm for the Study of Twentieth-Century
Music." Ph.D. dissertation, Cornell University, 1960.
Sessions, Roger. "The Composer in the University." In
Roger Sessions on Music. Edited by Edward T. Cone.
Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1979.
"Ernest Bloch." In Roger Sessions on Music.
Edited by Edward T. Cone. Princeton, NJ: Princeton
University Press, 1979.
"Music and the Crisis of the Arts." In Roqer
Sessions on Music. Edited by Edward T. Cone.
Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1979.
"New Vist:as in Musical Education." In Roqer
Sessions on Music. Edited by Edward T. Cone.
Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1979.
"What Can Be Taught?" In Roger Sessions on
Music. Edited by Edward T. Cone. Princeton, NJ:
Princeton University Press, 1979.
531
Swarowsky, Hans. "Schoenberg als Lehrer." In Bericht
den 1. Kongress der Internationalen Schonberg-Gesel-
lschaft. Edited by Rudold Stefan. Vienna: Verlag
Elisabeth Lafitte, 1978.
"Symposium: The Doctorate in Composition." College Music
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Thompson, Randall. "On Contrapuntal Technique." In
Randall Thomspon: A Choral Legacy. Edited by Alfred
Mann. Boston: E. C. Schirmer, 1983.
"Randall Thompson and the Music of the Past." In
Randall Thomspon: A Choral Legacy. Edited by Alfred
Mann. Boston: E. C. Schirmer, 1983.
Wason, Robert. Fundamental Bass Theory in Nineteenth-
Century Vienna. New Haven: Yale University Press,
1981.
Wintle, Christopher W. "Schoenberg's Harmony: Theory and
Practice." Journal of the Arnold Schoenberg Insitute 4
(1980): 50-69.
IV. Pedagogy
Bellermann, Heinrich. Der Contrapunkt. 4th ed.
Berlin: Verlag von Julius Springer, 1901.
Fux, Johann Joseph.
by Alfred Mann.
1971.
The Study of Counterpoint. Translated
New York: W. W. Norton & Co., Inc.,
Hindemith, Paul. A Concertrated Course in Traditional
Harmony. 2 vols. New York: Associated Music
Publishers, 1943-48.
Elementary Training for Musicians. New York:
Associated Music Publishers, 1946.
Unterweisung im Tonsatz. 3 vols. Mainz:
Schott's Sohne, 1937-70.
Knorr, Iwan. Aufgaben den Unterrich in der Harmonie-
lehre. Leipzig: Breitkopf & Hartel, 1903.
Krenek, Ernst. Modal Counterpoint in the Style of the
Sixteenth New York: Boosey and Hawkes, 1959.
Studies in Counterpoint. New York: G. Schirmer,
Inc., 1940.
532
Krenek, Ernst. Tonal Counterpoint in the Style of the
Eighteenth New York: Boosey and Hawkes, 1958.
Lussy, Mathias. Musical Expression, Accents, Nuances, and
Tempo in Vocal and Instrumental Music. Translated by
M.E. von Glehn. London: Novello and Company, Limited,
n.d.
Porter, Quincy. A Study of Sixteenth-Century Counterpoint
Based on the Works of Orland di Lasso. Boston: Loomis
& Co. , 19 4 0.
A Study of Fugue Writing Based on Bach's
Well-Tempered Clavichord. Boston: Loomis & Co., 1951.
Schoenberg, Arnold. Fundamentals of Musical Composition.
New York: St. Martin's Press, 1967.
Harmonielehere. Vienna: Verlageinigentum der
Universal-Edition A-G, 1911.
Models for Beginners in Composition. New York:
G. Schirmer, 1942.
Preliminary Exercises in Counterpoint. London:
Faber and Faber Limited, 1963.
Structural Functions of Harmony. New York: W.
W. Norton & Co., Inc., 1954.
Sessions, Roger. Harmonic Practice. New York: Harcourt,
Brace, and Company, 1951.
V. Bibliography
Edmunds, John., and Boelzner, Gordon. Some
Twentieth-Century Composers: A Selective Bibliography.
2 vols. New York: New York Public Library, 1959-60.
Griffel, M. "Bibliography of Writings on Ernest Bloch."
Current 6 (1968): 142-46.