In his 68 years, Swiss-American Composer Ernest Bloch had won fame if not fortune for his soaring, rhapsodic Sche-lomo for cello and orchestra, his fine Israel Symphony, Violin Concerto and string quartets. Still, he was disappointed.
Ever since 1928, when his America won a Musical America, magazine contest (with Koussevitzky and Stokowski among the judges), Bloch had had a notion that its broad, sweeping main theme was the best U.S. national-anthem music around —and specifically a lot better than The Star-Spangled Banner. But in 22 years, The Star-Spangled Banner had held its own and Bloch's America had been heard only a handful...