Born into a family that had lived in Florence since the expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492 Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco (1895-1968) entertained only a distant relationship with the music he heard at synagogue. It was only when he discovered Schelemo a rhapsody for cello and orchestra written in 1916 by Ernest Bloch that he began to understand what “Jewish music” could be. In the mid-1920s the young composer found a collection of prayers set to music among his maternal grandfather’s papers. Something clicked and from then on Jewish tradition would become a source of inspiration for Castelnuovo-Tedesco. In 1928 two years after publishing theDances of King David he wrote this Vocalise-Étude for medium voice and piano at the request of vocal teacher Amédée-Landély Hettich who wanted to include it in the Répertoire moderne de Vocalises-Études published by Leduc. The piece became so popular that several instrumental adaptations were soon created published under the title Chant hébraïque (for violin and piano: AL17 713; for cello and piano: AL 17196). Divided into three sections this wordless melody opens with a “sad and impassioned” chant that appears to grieve the tragic fate of the Jewish people. A folk dance follows in which a “lively and stubborn” movement has great panache. The third section returns to the initial poignant theme before briefly reiterating the dance motif allowing the piece to conclude on a hopeful note. The composer himself would adopt this proactive stance refusing to yield to resignation when fleeing Mussolini’s anti-Semitic laws he decided to emigrate in 1939 to the United States a land of refuge to which he would remain faithful until his death some thirty years later.

Frank Bridge’s Three Songs for Medium Voice Viola and Piano is the second volume in a 30-volume series by The Frank Bridge Trust in association with Thames Publishing celebrating the works of Frank Bridge. This publication features the songs Far far from each other Where is it that our soul doth go? and Music when soft voices die and includes the score for Viola separately making the collaboration of the three musicians easier. The songs can be and often are performed together as a cycle but also work as short individual pieces. The first performance of the three songs in December 1908 marked a rareoccurrence as Frank Bridge played the Piano part himself. Far far from each other is the most ambitious of the three pieces for all three musicians. The words are excerpts from Matthew Arnold’s ‘Empedocles on Etna and Other Poems Parting’.Where is it that our soul doth go? is the shortest of the three songs and the words are a translation of the last stanza of Heinrich Heine’s Clarisse translated by K. F. Kroeker.While the first two songs are original settings Bridge first wrote Music when soft voices die for High Voice Piano and Cello in 1903. The present version was transcribed in 1907. Music when soft voices die the short poem providing the words for this piece is one of the most influential and well-known of Shelley’s works.Watch Three Songs performed by Rebecca Ringle (Mezzo-Soprano) Luke Fleming (Viola) and Roger Steptoe (Piano):