Sir Arthur Bliss (1891 – 1975) was an excellent conductor of his own music, but he sadly made only a limited number of commercial recordings. SOMM celebrates the 50th anniversary of Bliss’s death with a 2-CD set of important archive performances, all but two of which he didn’t record commercially, making them of particular interest. These live performances, mostly recorded at the BBC Proms and not previously made available, are skilfully remastered by long-time SOMM collaborator and executive producer, Lani Spahr, whose recent 6-volume “Bruckner from the Archives” received no less than two Editor’s Choices from Gramophone magazine.
At the invitation of Edward Elgar, Bliss wrote a new work for the Three Choirs Festival in 1920. He was inspired by a book on heraldry to compose a full-scale symphony incorporating symbolic meanings associated with primary colours. Hence, the four movements of A Colour Symphony are Purple, Red, Blue, and Green. The performance issued here is with Bliss conducting his 70th birthday concert at the Proms in 1961.
For his 75th birthday concert at the Proms in 1966, Bliss conducted his Piano Concerto, commissioned by the British Council in 1939. Following this birthday concert, Bliss wrote that he felt “indeed positively youthful; perhaps that rejuvenation was accentuated by the exuberantly fine performance that John Ogdon gave of my Piano Concerto.” That “exuberantly fine performance,” along with Bliss’s brief speech of thanks, are included in this set.
Bliss and his younger brother served during World War I, and Kennard was killed at the Battle of the Somme. In 1930, haunted by nightmares of the war and grief about his brother, Bliss composed Morning Heroes, dedicating it “to the memory of my brother Francis Kennard Bliss and all other comrades killed in battle.” The work is a symphony for orator, chorus, and orchestra, with poetry ranging from The Iliad to Walt Whitman and Wilfred Owen. Lady Bliss considered the pre-eminent orator of this work to be Donald Douglas, featured here with Bliss in 1968—surprisingly, the only performance to date of Morning Heroes at the Proms.
The much-revised Concerto for Two Pianos is presented in a version for two pianos and three hands, which Bliss arranged after Cyril Smith suffered a stroke that paralysed his left arm. This performance with Bliss leading Cyril Smith, Phyllis Sellick, and the BBC Symphony Orchestra is from the 1969 Proms.
Two shorter works complete this Bliss anniversary tribute. Mêlée Fantasque from 1921, influenced by Sergei Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes, is a precursor to many ballet scores Bliss would produce. The Phoenix, subtitled “Homage to France August 1944,” is noted in the score as symbolizing “the imperishable life and the transcendent beauty of France.”
On This Recording
Disc 1
A Colour Symphony, F. 106 (rev. 1932)a (31:33)
- I. Purple (6:12)
- II. Red (7:21)
- III. Blue (9:37)
- IV. Green (8:22)
Piano Concertoin B-Flat, F. 108b (37:09)
- I. Allegro con brio (16:22)
- II. Adagietto (9:14)
- III. Andante maestoso – Molto vivace (9:14)
- Sir Arthur Bliss speaks after a birthday presentation (0:48)
- March, The Phoenix, F. 94 “Homage to France, August 1944c(7:13)
Disc 2
Morning Heroes, F. 32d (54:55)
- I. Hector’s Farewell to Andromache (11:42)
- II. The City Arming (10:59)
- III. Vigil – The Bivouac’s Flame (12:22)
- IV. Achilles Goes Forth to Battle – The Heroes (8:14)
- V. Now, Trumpeter, for Thy Close. Spring Offensive – Dawn on the Somme (11:37)
Concerto for 2 Pianos, F. 110e (arr. Bliss & Clifford Phillips for 3 hands)(12:18)
- I. Allegro giusto (4:23)
- II. Larghetto tranquillo – (3:11)
- III. Allegro (4:44)
- Mêlée Fantasque, F. 119 (rev. 1965)f (11:50)
aLondon Symphony Orchestra
bJohn Ogdon, piano; BBC Symphony Orchestra
cBBC Symphony Orchestra
dDonald Douglas, orator; BBC Chorus and Choral Society; Alexandra Choir; Croydon Philharmonic Society, BBC Symphony Orchestra
eCyril Smith & Phillis Sellick, pianos; BBC Symphony Orchestra
fBBC Northern Orchestra
Sir Arthur Bliss, conductor
