There was a time, before Mahler became fashionable and Schoenberg was much played, when Bloch seemed the greatest Jewish composer since Mendelssohn. Times have changed, and Bloch is nowadays not so highly regarded; but Schelomo is a strong and individual piece and has survived. He originally conceived it as a setting of the Book of Ecclesiastes, with its legendary author King Solomon (Schelomo in Hebrew) as a solo baritone, but had doubts as to his ability to set the Hebrew tongue effectively. As he was in this quandary, the pile of sketches lying dormant, there arrived in his home town of Geneva the Russian cellist Alexander Barjansky, with whose playing the composer was much impressed, and the two soon became firm friends. This meeting, and a wax figurine of Solomon by Barjansky's sculptor-wife Catherine, was the catalyst for the work's metamorphosis, and from there the piece progressed quickly to its completion.

sources

A  Autograph manuscript (1916), in the Library of Congress, Washington D.C., Moldenhauer Archives, viewable online at IMSLP

AV  Autograph solo part with piano arrangement by the composer, on loan by the Robert Owen Lehman Foundation to the Morgan Library, New York

P  First edition parts, published by Schirmer in 1916 (the online set at IMSLP lacks Celesta)

E  First edition score, published by Schirmer in 1918

V  Cello and piano score taken from AV, published by Schirmer in 1918