Suzanne Bloch (August 9, 1907 – January 29, 2002) was a Swiss-American musician and an influential pioneer of Early Music Revival during the 20th century.

Biography

Suzanne Bloch was born in

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland. Situ ...

in 1907 into the family of composer Ernest Bloch. The family moved to New York in 1916 when Ernst Bloch took on teaching and conducting responsibilities there. She went to Paris to study music with

Nadia Boulanger Juliette Nadia Boulanger (; 16 September 188722 October 1979) was a French music teacher and conductor. She taught many of the leading composers and musicians of the 20th century, and also performed occasionally as a pianist and organist. From a ...

in 1925, and decided to become a

lute A lute ( or ) is any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back enclosing a hollow cavity, usually with a sound hole or opening in the body. It may be either fretted or unfretted. More specifically, the term "lute" can re ...

player after hearing an early-music concert. She went on to study music in Paris and Berlin, and she met

Arnold Dolmetsch Eugène Arnold Dolmetsch (24 February 1858 – 28 February 1940), was a French-born musician and instrument maker who spent much of his working life in England and established an instrument-making workshop in Haslemere, Surrey. He was a leading f ...

in England in 1933. Dolmetsch sold her a lute from 1600 that he had restored himself. In 1935 she performed at the Dolmetsch Early Music Festival in

Haslemere The town of Haslemere () and the villages of Shottermill and Grayswood are in south west Surrey, England, around south west of London. Together with the settlements of Hindhead and Beacon Hill, they comprise the civil parish of Haslemere i ...

, and soon afterward returned to New York, where she began her concert career. Her career as a lutenist was cut short in the 1950s by repetitive stress syndrome brought on by the modern heavily built Hermann Hauser lutes that she played, but her condition allowed her to continue to play early keyboards and sing. She was one of the founding members of the Lute Society of America in the 1970s. She died in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

in 2002.

Family

Suzanne Bloch's marriage to mathematician Paul Smith ended in divorce. They had two sons, one of whom had

autism The autism spectrum, often referred to as just autism or in the context of a professional diagnosis autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or autism spectrum condition (ASC), is a neurodevelopmental condition (or conditions) characterized by difficulti ...

. She raised their autistic son alone, and was able to help him gain nearly total social functionality through self-designed art therapy. He eventually became an independent artist-painter.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bloch, Suzanne 1907 births 2002 deaths 20th-century American musicians 20th-century American women musicians Swiss emigrants to the United States American people of Swiss-Jewish descent American lutenists Jewish American musicians 20th-century American Jews