{"podcast":{"title":"Composers Datebook","slug":"composers-datebook-550176","podcast_index_feed_id":550176,"rss_url":"https://feeds.publicradio.org/public_feeds/composers-datebook","website_url":"https://www.yourclassical.org/composers-datebook","image_url":"https://img.apmcdn.org/1486eb29dcac7f11a5275eaa0d424ba7c6b9afc7/uncropped/8588a0-20210225-composers-datebook-2000.jpg","author":"American Public Media","episode_count":30,"summary":"Composers Datebook™ is a daily two-minute program designed to inform, engage, and entertain listeners with timely information about composers of the past and present. Each program notes significant or intriguing musical events involving composers of the past and present, with appropriate and accessible music related to each.","last_synced_at":"2026-06-07T04:19:16.343454+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/composers-datebook-550176"},"episode":{"title":"Bloch's greatest hit","slug":"bloch-s-greatest-hit","published_at":"2026-05-03T05:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/composers-datebook-550176/bloch-s-greatest-hit","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/composers-datebook-550176","url":"https://pscrb.fm/rss/p/mgln.ai/e/5/dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/play.publicradio.org/podcast/o/composers_datebook/2026/05/03/datebook_20260503_128.mp3","audio_url":"https://pscrb.fm/rss/p/mgln.ai/e/5/dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/play.publicradio.org/podcast/o/composers_datebook/2026/05/03/datebook_20260503_128.mp3","summary":"Synopsis Today marks the anniversary of the first performance of the best-known work of Swiss-born American composer, Ernest Bloch, whose Hebrew Rhapsody: Schelomo , for cello and orchestra, premiered at Carnegie Hall on today’s date in 1917. The piece is a meditation on the Book of Ecclesiastes, which describes King Solomon reflecting sadly on the vanity of human endeavor — Schelomo being the original Hebrew pronunciation of Solomon. Schelomo premiered just a year after Bloch came to the United States. In America, Bloch had found encouragement and remarkable acceptance of his music. His Schelomo was premiered at an all-Bloch concert at Carnegie Hall arranged by The Society of the Friends of Music with the Philadelphia orchestra’s principal cellist Hans Kindler as soloist. Schelomo was originally written with Russian cellist Serge Alexander Barjansky in mind, and was dedicated to him and his wife; but it was not until a concert in Rome in 1933, a fateful year for European Jewish communities, that Bloch got to conduct the work with Barjansky as soloist. Despite his success in America, he tried to resume his career in Europe in the 1930s, but, discouraged by the rise of anti-Semitism and threats of war, he returned to American for good in 1938. Music Played in Today's Program Ernest Bloch (1880-1959): Schelomo ; Mischa Maisky, cello; Israel Philharmonic; Leonard Bernstein, conductor; DG 427 347","meta_description":"Synopsis Today marks the anniversary of the first performance of the best-known work of Swiss-born American composer, Ernest Bloch, whose Hebrew Rhapsody:…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":120,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/composers-datebook-550176/episodes/bloch-s-greatest-hit/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/composers-datebook-550176/bloch-s-greatest-hit.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}