Eight autograph letters and postcards signed (some with initials, one in jest as 'Hans Sachs', another as 'Ernest-Hans') to Sylvia Glass (later Goldfrank), New York, San Francisco, Roveredo (Switzerland) and elsewhere, 25 July 1933 - 26 August 1943

Ernest Bloch (1880-1959)
Eight autograph letters and postcards signed (some with initials, one in jest as 'Hans Sachs', another as 'Ernest-Hans') to Sylvia Glass (later Goldfrank), New York, San Francisco, Roveredo (Switzerland) and elsewhere, 25 July 1933 - 26 August 1943
In French. Together 16 pages, various sizes, with an inscribed visiting card. Three envelopes. Provenance: Sotheby's, 6 May 1988, lot 320.

Frenetic letters to a young journalist, several referring to his Sacred Service (Avodath Hakodesh) for baritone, choir and orchestra. In the first letter, Bloch invites the recipient to attend a performance of the work at the publishers G. Schirmer in New York. On 21 September 1933, he expresses his exhaustion after a round of 'lectures, discussions, etc, etc, people, soirees, concerts' in Los Angeles, adding that he is soon to set off for Buffalo; he comments acidly on the lack of support for the Service amongst Jewish patrons ('Les Juifs qui m’ont assailli, assassiné, interviewé en Juillet … ne semblent pas avoir fait g[ran]d chose pour le Service!') and complains at the efforts necessary to find international publishers; also praising an article by Glass and regretting the 'chonological error of 30 years, or let's say 20 years' which has made a romantic relationship between them impossible. On 4 October he recounts further frenetic activity including performances of the Service, railing against the lack of support and incomprehension he encounters ('Personne ici ne s'en soucie – Imbécils – et poor business-people'). On 1 March 1934 he expresses his delight in the landscapes of Ticino, and at a recent visit to London ('une vraie civilisation ... l'impression énorme que m'a fait ce peuple de "gentlemen"'). On 18 July 1939 after a long gap in the correspondence, Bloch complains of his 'nervous breakdown' ('Pour en sortir, j'apprends à "drive a car"'), and mentions his plan to settle in California.

Bloch ultimately joined the music faculty at Berkeley in 1941, remaining there until his retirement in 1952