Essays on the Philosophy of Music

The introduction by David Drew is worth the value of the book alone. Drew situates and places Bloch's work profoundly within the ideologic framework of this century,most of which Bloch had lived through. Bloch's writings on music are not as nearly as fascinating as his historical excursions into the realm of utopia and the various forms that manifestation has takened within the human spirit.Yes! Music admirably inhabits one of these contemplative realms and regions,music representing a place a realm to be attained,as well as a document of its time. Bloch believed all this, and it's curious a man who was present at the birth of modernity, of Expressionism in Germany,Surrealism the theatre of Leftist content of Brecht and Piscator,curious that Bloch never mentioned,nor formulated essays on the formidable acheivements of modern music. His writings stand fairly within the predictability of Germanic music, Mozart operas, Beethoven and Bruckner,a neglected creator of symphonic boulders of post-romanticism. Creators like Debussy,Ravel,Schoenberg,Bartok or Stravinsky are hardly mentioned throughout his long life. Well music was an addendum, a marginal pursuit to him. Bloch knew the primary musicians of his day the conductor Otto Klemperer always looked up wherever Bloch was living within his numerous exiles. If you've read "The Principle of Hope" then these essays are merely supplements to that magnum opus in three volumes.