Bliss, Arthur (1891 - 1975)

[Conchis]

I've been listening to his Oboe and Clarinet Quintets on the (excellent) Melos Ensemble Icon box set: they seem to be first-rate works.

He's certainly a neglected composer but I believe there is a dedicated box set from EMI. I've never heard Colour Symphony, his most famous work. From what I've heard, the composer he seems closest to in character is William Alwyn.

Any views on Bliss?

[Bryn]

I've been listening to his Oboe and Clarinet Quintets on the (excellent) Melos Ensemble Icon box set: they seem to be first-rate works.

He's certainly a neglected composer but I believe there is a dedicated box set from EMI. I've never heard Colour Symphony, his most famous work. From what I've heard, the composer he seems closest to in character is William Alwyn.

Any views on Bliss?

If you have watched any television Proms broadcasts in recent years you will have heard at least a snippet from the Colour Symphony's Red. ;-)

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

A genuinely "neglected Brit" - I haven't encountered a duff piece in his output. Closer to Walton than Alwyn, perhaps - or at least equidistant from both: an individual talent well worth seeking out.

[teamsaint]

The keeper of the house encyclopedia of British music , ( EdgeleyRob) once described Bliss as " the most neglected of the neglected".
This neglect is a mystery to me.
His ballet scores are treasures of British music.
Other highlights for me are the Viola Sonata, the Colour symphony, and the Cello concerto.
But TBH there is an absolute wealth of wonderful music, and I think the quality of the works available on CD is exceptionally strong.

The Naxos disc pairing the Colour Symphony and Adam Zero is simply the best thing you can buy for a couple of quid, end of.
One of my few " bucket list " things is to see a production of Adam Zero. Turns out there was one in Bremerhaven this very year. If there Are ballet gods, they will arrange for the company to tour it in the UK. The stills on the Facebook page look beautiful....but I' m rambling now......

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.823992677691324.1073741840.757394327684493&type=3

[teamsaint]

A genuinely "neglected Brit" - I haven't encountered a duff piece in his output. Closer to Walton than Alwyn, perhaps - or at least equidistant from both: an individual talent well worth seeking out.

Ferney , I couldnt agree more a out his consistently high quality, certainly a really notable feature of his music.

[EdgeleyRob]

I don't hear much Alwyn influence,certainly Walton and Elgar with a twist.
Critics tend to rate his ballet scores as his best stuff,I regard his chamber music as up there with the best in the British repertoire.
Why Morning Heroes doesn't feature as often as the War Requiem is beyond me.
As well as the Colour Symphony I would seek out the piano concerto and sonata,string quartets,music for strings

[teamsaint]

I don't hear much Alwyn influence,certainly Walton and Elgar with a twist.
Critics tend to rate his ballet scores as his best stuff,I regard his chamber music as up there with the best in the British repertoire.
Why Morning Heroes doesn't feature as often as the War Requiem is beyond me.
As well as the Colour Symphony I would seek out the piano concerto and sonata,string quartets,music for strings

I hope I havent misquoted you ER !! Are you back from your hols then? Hope the weather perked up .

[EdgeleyRob]

I hope I havent misquoted you ER !! Are you back from your hols then? Hope the weather perked up .

No ts,IMVHO Bliss is the most inexplicably neglected of all neglected Brits.
I'm stuck here in Lanzarote for another week,weather is glorious

[Serial_Apologist]

A genuinely "neglected Brit" - I haven't encountered a duff piece in his output. Closer to Walton than Alwyn, perhaps - or at least equidistant from both: an individual talent well worth seeking out.

Ravel, Delius, Bax, Moeran, Warlock, a bit of (composer) Ireland, the Elgar of the Intro & Allegro, Stravinsky, even Rachmaninov in the PC - I hear them all, put through the Blissful blender, in there at different times and in different works. Remember he predates Walton and Alwyn age-wise, so the influence probably goes the other way around.

[richardfinegold]

Naxos issued a Bliss series years back. The Color Symphony, Adam Zero, Miracle in the Gorbels (sp?). I was listening to the lot recently, because not having played these for years I decided to burn them to a Hard Drive and discard the CDs as a space saving gesture.
The Alwyn comparison may be valid, but I don't have enough experience with Alwyn to make it...

[Rolmill]

May I add his choral works to the recommendations above? 'Morning Heroes', 'The World is Charged with the Grandeur of God' and 'Lie Strewn the White Flocks' are all major and, in their different ways, inspired pieces which are (like so much else of his output) unjustifiably neglected imv.

[Stanfordian]

Hiya Conchis,

I don't think Bliss wrote anything finer than his Clarinet Quintet, Oboe Quintet and Pastoral for clarinet and piano. Without making any claims for greateness I also enjoy his concertos for violin, for cello and for two pianos.

[Suffolkcoastal]

Bliss is a much finer composer than Alwyn & Bliss is likely to have influenced Alwyn to some degree, rather than the other way round. Many of the works from 1919-30 show an awareness of Stravinsky as well as the contemporary French composers. The Clarinet & Oboe Quintets are IMO among the very greatest British chamber works & Morning Heroes is another masterpiece. Of his concertos I personally find the late Cello Concerto to be his finest. Three great ballets; Checkmate, Miracle in the Gorbals & Adam Zero, a striking Piano Sonata, the masterly Music for Strings, many fine choral works etc. Yes, a very fine composer & shamefully neglected.

[Pulcinella]

I would also highly recommend the Meditations on a theme of John Blow, mysteriously omitted from the EMI compilation box.
I'm sure I mentioned this once before, perhaps when that box came out?

[EdgeleyRob]

Perhaps influence is the wrong word.
There is something that links many of these British composers.
I've no idea what it is,a harmonic thing,certain chords,modes or maybe something intangible.
It is present in Parry, Stanford,Britten,Elgar,Bliss,Simpson,RVW and so many others
Help needed