Composed while Ernest Bloch was studying in Germany and before he moved to America, the richly scored Symphony in C sharp minor fits within the romantic tradition of Richard Strauss, Mahler and Bruckner. It expresses Bloch’s innermost struggles and emotions, revealing his complex talents through rhapsodic forms, exceptional polyphony and modal tonalities. Inspired by Walt Whitman, the Poems of the Sea depict the oceans with striking clarity, including flavours of Irish folk music. Dalia Atlas is a leading expert on Bloch, her acclaimed recordings including America (8.557151) and Four Episodes (8.570259), “a disc not to be missed” (Penguin Guide).