Bloch, Schoenberg, and Bernstein: Assimilating Jewish Music in Bloomington, MN

David Schiller's study of the Jewish music of Bloch, Schoenberg, and Bernstein reveals how, in the mid-twentieth century, the problem of assimilation was acutely felt as the unfinished business of European Jewry, at a time when American Jewry was creating its own distinctive culture (albeit with European roots). This incisive study sheds new light on an important aspect of the cultural and aesthetic achievements of these seminal Jewish composers.