Programme Note
I do not propose or desire to attempt a reconstruction of the music of the Jews . . . or to base my work on melodies more or less authentic. I am not an archaeologist. I believe that the most important thing is to write good and sincere music--my music. It is rather the Hebrew spirit that interests me, the complex, ardent, agitated soul that vibrates for me in the Bible. The vigor . . . of the Patriarchs, the violence . . . in the books of the Prophets, the burning love of justice . . . the sorrow and the grandeur of the Book of Job, the sensuality of the Song of Songs. All this is in us, all this is in me, and it is the better part of me.
--Ernest Bloch