Alexander Korda Sir Alexander Korda (; born Sándor László Kellner; hu, Korda Sándor; 16 September 1893 – 23 January 1956)H. G. Wells Herbert George Wells"Wells, H. G."
Revised 18 May 2015. ''

Things to Come'', and a ballet score to his own scenario based on a chess game. Choreographed by

Ninette de Valois Dame Ninette de Valois (born Edris Stannus; 6 June 1898 – 8 March 2001) was an Irish-born British dancer, teacher, choreographer, and director of classical ballet. Most notably, she danced professionally with Serge Diaghilev's Ballets Russ ...

, '' Checkmate'' was still in the repertoire of the

Royal Ballet The Royal Ballet is a British internationally renowned classical ballet company, based at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London, England. The largest of the five major ballet companies in Great Britain, the Royal Ballet was founded in ...

in 2011. By the late 1930s, Bliss was no longer viewed as a modernist; the works of his juniors

William Walton Sir William Turner Walton (29 March 19028 March 1983) was an English composer. During a sixty-year career, he wrote music in several classical genres and styles, from film scores to opera. His best-known works include ''Façade'', the cantat ...

and the youthful

Benjamin Britten Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976, aged 63) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, other ...

were increasingly prominent, and Bliss's music began to seem old-fashioned.Palmer, Christopher
"Aspects of Bliss".
''The Musical Times'', August 1971, pp. 743–745; accessed 21 March 2011 His last large-scale work of the 1930s was his Piano Concerto, composed for the pianist Solomon, who gave the world premiere at the

World's Fair A world's fair, also known as a universal exhibition or an expo, is a large international exhibition designed to showcase the achievements of nations. These exhibitions vary in character and are held in different parts of the world at a specif ...

in New York in June 1939. Bliss and his family attended the performance and then stayed on in the US for a holiday. While they were there, the Second World War broke out. Bliss initially stayed in America, teaching at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

. He felt impelled to return to England to do what he could for the war effort, and in 1941, leaving his wife and children in California, he made the hazardous Atlantic crossing.

1940s

At first, Bliss found little useful work to do in England. He joined the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

...

's overseas music service in May 1941, but was plainly under-employed. He suggested to

Sir Adrian Boult Sir Adrian Cedric Boult, CH (; 8 April 1889 – 22 February 1983) was an English conductor. Brought up in a prosperous mercantile family, he followed musical studies in England and at Leipzig, Germany, with early conducting work in London ...

, who was at that time both the chief conductor of the

BBC Symphony Orchestra The BBC Symphony Orchestra (BBC SO) is a British orchestra based in London. Founded in 1930, it was the first permanent salaried orchestra in London, and is the only one of the city's five major symphony orchestras not to be self-governing. T ...

and the BBC's director of music, that Boult should step down in his favour from the latter post. Bliss wrote to his wife: "I want more power as I have a lot to give which my comparatively minor post does not allow me to use fully."Kennedy, p. 195 Boult agreed to the proposal, which freed him to concentrate on conducting. Bliss served as director of music at the BBC from 1942 to 1944, laying the foundations for the launch of the

Third Programme The BBC Third Programme was a national radio station produced and broadcast from 1946 until 1967, when it was replaced by Radio 3. It first went on the air on 29 September 1946 and quickly became one of the leading cultural and intellectual f ...

after the war. During the war, he also served on the music committee of the

British Council The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh lan ...

together with Vaughan Williams and William Walton. In 1944, when Bliss's family returned from the US, he resigned from the BBC and returned to composing, having written nothing since his String Quartet in 1941."Bliss, Sir Arthur"
''Who Was Who'', A & C Black, 1920–2008; online edition, Oxford University Press, December 2007, accessed 21 March 2011 He composed more film music, and two ballets, ''

Miracle in the Gorbals ''Miracle in the Gorbals'' (1944) is a one-act ballet choreographed by Robert Helpmann to a story by Michael Benthall, with music by Arthur Bliss. The setting is the 1940s slums in the Gorbals area of Glasgow. It became a staple of the Royal Ball ...

'' (1944), and ''

Adam Zero ''Adam Zero'' is a ballet with music composed by Arthur Bliss and choreographed by Robert Helpmann in 1946. Background After World War I, Bliss developed an interest in ballet after seeing the Ballets Russes of Sergei Diaghilev in London. Blis ...

'' (1946). In 1948, Bliss turned his attention to opera, with ''

The Olympians ''The Olympians'' is an opera in three acts by Arthur Bliss to a libretto by J. B. Priestley, first performed at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden on 29 September 1949, conducted by Karl Rankl in a production by Peter Brook. After the initi ...

''. He and the novelist and playwright

J. B. Priestley John Boynton Priestley (; 13 September 1894 – 14 August 1984) was an English novelist, playwright, screenwriter, broadcaster and social commentator. His Yorkshire background is reflected in much of his fiction, notably in ''The Good Compa ...

had been friends for many years, and they agreed to collaborate on an opera, despite their lack of any operatic experience. Priestley's libretto was based on a legend that "the pagan deities, robbed of their divinity, became a troupe of itinerant players, wandering down the centuries".Priestley, J. B
"My Friend Bliss"
''The Musical Times'', August 1971, pp. 740–741, accessed 22 March 2011 The opera portrays the confusion that results when the actors unexpectedly find themselves restored to deity. The opera opened the 1949–50

Covent Garden Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist si ...

season. It was directed by

Peter Brook Peter Stephen Paul Brook (21 March 1925 – 2 July 2022) was an English theatre and film director. He worked first in England, from 1945 at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre, from 1947 at the Royal Opera House, and from 1962 for the Royal Sha ...

, with choreography by Frederick Ashton. The doyen of English music critics,

Ernest Newman Ernest Newman (30 November 1868 – 7 July 1959) was an English music critic and musicologist. ''Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' describes him as "the most celebrated British music critic in the first half of the 20th century." His ...

, praised it highly: "here is a composer with real talent for opera ... in Mr. Priestley he has been fortunate enough to find an English

Boito Arrigo Boito (; 24 February 1842 10 June 1918) (whose original name was Enrico Giuseppe Giovanni Boito and who wrote essays under the anagrammatic pseudonym of Tobia Gorrio) was an Italian poet, journalist, novelist, librettist and composer, ...

", but generally it received a polite rather than a rapturous reception. Priestley attributed this to the failure of the conductor,

Karl Rankl Karl Rankl (1 October 1898 – 6 September 1968) was a British conductor and composer who was of Austrian birth. A pupil of the composers Schoenberg and Webern, he conducted at opera houses in Austria, Germany and Czechoslovakia until fleeing f ...

to learn the music or to cooperate with Brook, and to lack of rehearsal of the last act. The critics attributed it to Priestley's inexperience as an opera librettist, and to the occasional lack of "the soaring tune for the human voice" in Bliss's music."The Royal Opera – 'The Olympians'", ''The Times'', 30 September 1949, p. 6; Hope-Wallace, Philip, "The Olympians", ''The Manchester Guardian'', 30 September 1949, p. 5; and Blom, Eric, "Priestley for Bliss", ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the w ...

'' 2 October 1949, p. 6 After the Covent Garden run of ten performances,Haltrecht, p. 132 the company presented the work in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

, but did not revive it in subsequent years; it received a concert performance and broadcast in 1972.

Later years

In 1950, Bliss was knighted. After the death of Sir Arnold Bax he was appointed

Master of the Queen's Music Master of the King's Music (or Master of the Queen's Music, or earlier Master of the King's Musick) is a post in the Royal Household of the United Kingdom. The holder of the post originally served the monarch of England, directing the court orche ...

in 1953, to the relief of Walton, who feared he would be asked to take the post. In ''The Times'', Howes commented, "The duties of a Master of the Queen's Music are what he chooses to make of them, but they include the composition of ceremonial and occasional music". Bliss, who composed quickly and with facility, was able to discharge the many duties of the post, providing music as required for state occasions, from the birth of a child to the Queen, to the funeral of

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 Winston Churchill in the Second World War, dur ...

, to the investiture of the

Prince of Wales Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rulers ...

. Howes commended Bliss's ''Processional'' for the 1953 coronation, and ''A Song of Welcome'', Bliss's first official ''pièce d'occasion''. In 1956, Bliss headed the first delegation by British musicians to the Soviet Union since the end of the Second World War. The party included the violinist

Alfredo Campoli Alfredo Campoli (20 October 1906 – 27 March 1991) was an Italian-born British violinist, often known simply as Campoli. He was noted for the beauty of the tone he produced from the violin. Campoli spent his childhood and much of his career in E ...

, the oboist

Léon Goossens Léon Jean Goossens, CBE, FRCM (12 June 1897 – 13 February 1988) was an English oboist. Career Goossens was born in Liverpool, Lancashire, and studied at Liverpool College of Music and the Royal College of Music. His father was violinist and ...

, the soprano

Jennifer Vyvyan Jennifer Vyvyan (13 March 1925 – 5 April 1974) was a British classical soprano who had an active international career in operas, concerts, and recitals from 1948 up until her death in 1974. She possessed a beautifully clear, steady voice with ...

, the conductor

Clarence Raybould Robert Clarence Raybould (28 June 1886 – 27 March 1972) was an English conductor, pianist and composer who conducted works ranging from musical comedy and operetta, Gilbert and Sullivan to the standard classical repertoire. He also cham ...

and the pianist

Gerald Moore Gerald Moore CBE (30 July 1899 – 13 March 1987) was an English classical pianist best known for his career as a collaborative pianist for many distinguished musicians. Among those with whom he was closely associated were Dietrich Fischer-Di ...

. Bliss returned to Moscow in 1958, as a member of the jury of the

International Tchaikovsky Competition The International Tchaikovsky Competition is a classical music competition held every four years in Moscow and Saint Petersburg, Russia, for pianists, violinists, and cellists between 16 and 32 years of age and singers between 19 and 32 years of ...

, with fellow jurors including

Emil Gilels Emil Grigoryevich Gilels ( Russian: Эми́ль Григо́рьевич Ги́лельс; 19 October 1916 – 14 October 1985) was a Russian pianist. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest pianists of all time. Early life and educati ...

and

Sviatoslav Richter Sviatoslav Teofilovich Richter, group= ( – August 1, 1997) was a Soviet classical pianist. He is frequently regarded as one of the greatest pianists of all time, Great Pianists of the 20th Century and has been praised for the "depth of his int ...

Coventry Cathedral -old and new-5July2008

In addition to his official functions, Bliss continued to compose steadily throughout the 1950s. His works from that decade include his Second String Quartet (1950); a scena, ''The Enchantress'' (1951), for the

contralto A contralto () is a type of classical female singing voice whose vocal range is the lowest female voice type. The contralto's vocal range is fairly rare; similar to the mezzo-soprano, and almost identical to that of a countertenor, typica ...

Kathleen Ferrier Kathleen Mary Ferrier, CBE (22 April 19128 October 1953) was an English contralto singer who achieved an international reputation as a stage, concert and recording artist, with a repertoire extending from folksong and popular ballads to the c ...

; a Piano Sonata (1952); and a Violin Concerto (1955), for Campoli. The orchestral ''Meditations on a Theme by John Blow'' (1955) was a particularly deep-felt work, and Bliss regarded it highly among his output. In 1959–60 he collaborated with the librettist

Christopher Hassall Christopher Vernon Hassall (24 March 1912 – 25 April 1963) was an English actor, dramatist, librettist, lyricist and poet, who found his greatest fame in a memorable musical partnership with the actor and composer Ivor Novello after worki ...

on an opera for television, based on the scriptural story of Tobias and the Angel . It won praise for the way in which Bliss and Hassall had understood and adapted to the more intimate medium of television, though some critics thought Bliss's music competent but unremarkable. In 1961, Bliss and Hassall collaborated on a cantata, ''The Beatitudes'', commissioned for the opening of the new Coventry Cathedral. Reviews were friendly, but the work has rarely been performed since, and has been eclipsed by another choral work written for Coventry at the same time,

Britten Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976, aged 63) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, other ...

's ''

War Requiem The ''War Requiem'', Op. 66, is a large-scale setting of the Requiem composed by Benjamin Britten mostly in 1961 and completed in January 1962. The ''War Requiem'' was performed for the consecration of the new Coventry Cathedral, which was bui ...

''. Bliss followed this with two further large-scale choral works, ''Mary of Magdala'' (1962) and ''The Golden Cantata'' (1963). Throughout his life, Bliss was vigilant on the state of music in Britain, about which he had written extensively since the 1920s. In 1969 he publicly censured the BBC for its plan to cut its classical music budget and disband several of its orchestras. He was delegated by his colleagues Walton, Britten,

Peter Maxwell Davies Sir Peter Maxwell Davies (8 September 1934 – 14 March 2016) was an English composer and conductor, who in 2004 was made Master of the Queen's Music. As a student at both the University of Manchester and the Royal Manchester College of Musi ...

and

Richard Rodney Bennett Sir Richard Rodney Bennett (29 March 193624 December 2012) was an English composer of film, TV and concert music, and also a jazz pianist and occasional vocalist. He was based in New York City from 1979 until his death there in 2012.Zachary Woo ...

to make a strong protest to

William Glock Sir William Frederick Glock, CBE (3 May 190828 June 2000) was a British music critic and musical administrator who was instrumental in introducing the Continental avant-garde, notably promoting the career of Pierre Boulez. Biography Glock was bo ...

, the BBC's controller of music. Bliss continued to compose into his eighth and ninth decades, in which his works included the Cello Concerto (1970) for Mstislav Rostropovich, the ''Metamorphic Variations'' for orchestra (1972), and a final cantata, ''Shield of Faith'' (1974), for soprano, baritone, chorus and organ, celebrating 500 years of

St. George's Chapel, Windsor Castle St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle in England is a castle chapel built in the late-medieval Perpendicular Gothic style. It is both a Royal peculiar, Royal Peculiar (a church under the direct jurisdiction of the monarch) and the Chapel of the O ...

, setting poems chosen from each of the five centuries of the chapel's existence. Bliss died at his London home in 1975 at the age of 83. His wife Trudy outlived him by 33 years, dying in 2008 at the age of 104.

Music

Early works

The musicologist Christopher Palmer was censorious of those who sought to characterise Bliss's music as "an early tendency to ''enfant terribilisme'' yielding very quickly to a compromise with the Establishment and a perpetuating of the Elgar tradition". Nonetheless, as a young man Bliss was certainly regarded as ''avant garde''. ''Madam Noy'', a "witchery" song, was first performed in June 1920. The lyric is by an anonymous author, and the setting is for soprano with flute, clarinet, bassoon, harp, viola, and bass. In a 1923 study of Bliss, Edwin Evans wrote that the piquant instrumental background to the gruesome story established the direction that Bliss was to take. The second Chamber Rhapsody (1919) is "an idyllic work for soprano, tenor, flute, cor anglais, and bass, the two voices vocalising on 'Ah' throughout, and being placed as instruments in the ensemble." Bliss contrasted the pastoral tone of that work with ''Rout'' (1920) an uproarious piece for soprano and instrumental ensemble; " the music conveys an impression such as one might gather at an open window at carnival time … the singer is given a series of meaningless syllables chosen for their phonetic effect". In his next work, ''Conversations'' for violin, viola, cello, flute and oboe (1921), Bliss chose a deliberately prosaic subject. It consists of five sections, entitled "Committee Meeting," "In the Wood," "In the Ball-room," "Soliloquy," and "In the Tube at Oxford Circus." Evans wrote of this work that although the instrumentation is ingenious, "much of heinterest is polyphonic, especially in the first and last numbers." Bliss followed these works with three compositions for larger forces, a Concerto (1920) and Two Orchestral Studies (1920). The Concerto, for piano, voice and orchestra, was experimental, and Bliss later revised it, removing the vocal part. The ''Melée Fantasque'' (1921) showed Bliss's skill in writing glittering orchestration.

Mature works

Of Bliss's early works, ''Rout'' is occasionally performed, and has been recorded, but the first of his works to enter the repertoire (at least in the UK) is the ''Colour Symphony''. Each of the four movements represents a colour: "purple, the colour of amethysts, pageantry, royalty, and death; red, the colour of rubies, wine, revelry, furnaces, courage, and magic; blue, the colour of sapphires, deep water, skies, loyalty, and melancholy; and green, the colour of emeralds, hope, joy, youth, spring, and victory." The first and third are slow movements, the second a scherzo, and the fourth fugal, described by the Bliss specialist Andrew Burn as "a compositional tour de force, a superbly constructed double fugue, the initial subject slow and angular for strings, gradually becoming an Elgarian ceremonial march, the second a bubbling theme for winds."Burn, Andrew (2006). Notes to Chandos CD CHAN 10380 Burn observes that in three works written soon after his marriage, the Oboe Quintet (1927), ''Pastoral'' (1929) and ''Serenade'' (1929), "Bliss's voice assumed the mantle of maturity … all are imbued with a quality of contentment reflecting his serenity." Of the works of Bliss's maturity, Burn comments that many of them were inspired by external stimuli. Some by the performers for whom they were written, such as the concertos for

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

(1938), violin (1955) and cello (1970); some by literary and theatrical partners, such as the film music, ballets, cantatas and ''The Olympians''; some by painters, such as the ''Serenade'' and the ''Metamorphic Variations''; some by classical literature, such as ''Hymn to Apollo'' (1926), ''The Enchantress'', and ''Pastoral''. Of Bliss's works after the Second World War, his opera, ''The Olympians'' is generally considered a failure. The idiom was judged to be old-fashioned. A contemporary critic, in a broadly favourable review, wrote, "Bliss has wisely cleared his idiom of modern harmonic astringency. He uses quite a lot of common chords and progressions; in fact, he has gone back to the harmony of the musical gods. The result, inevitably, is a certain air of reminiscence." Among the late works, the Cello Concerto is one of the more frequently played. When its dedicatee, Rostropovich, gave the first performance at the 1970

Aldeburgh Festival The Aldeburgh Festival of Music and the Arts is an English arts festival devoted mainly to classical music. It takes place each June in the Aldeburgh area of Suffolk, centred on Snape Maltings Concert Hall. History of the Aldeburgh Festival Th ...

, Britten, who conducted the performance, regarded it as a major work and persuaded Bliss to change its title from "Concertino" to "Concerto". It is an approachable piece of which Bliss said "There are no problems for the listener – only for the soloist". Both Palmer and Burn comment on a sinister vein that sometimes breaks out in Bliss's music, in passages such as the Interlude "Through the valley of the shadow of Death" in ''The Meditations on a Theme of John Blow'', and the orchestral introduction to ''The Beatitudes''. In Burn's words, such moments can be profoundly disquieting. Palmer comments that the musical forerunner of such passages is probably "the extraordinary spectral march-like irruption" in the Scherzo of Elgar's Second Symphony. In a centenary assessment of Bliss's music, Burn singles out for mention "the youthful vigour of ''A Colour Symphony''", "the poignant humanity of ''

Morning Heroes ''Morning Heroes'' is a choral symphony by the English composer Arthur Bliss. The work received its first performance at the Norwich Festival on 22 October 1930, with Basil Maine as the speaker/orator. Written in the aftermath of World War I, in ...

''", "the romantic lyricism of the Clarinet Quintet", "the drama of ''Checkmate'', ''Miracle in the Gorbals'' and ''Things to Come''", and "the spiritual probing of the ''Meditations on a Theme of John Blow'' and ''Shield of Faith''." Other works of Bliss classed by Palmer as among the finest are the ''Introduction and Allegro'', the ''Music for Strings'', the Oboe Quintet, ''A Knot of Riddles'' and ''the Golden Cantata.''

Honours, legacy and reputation

In addition to his

knighthood A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the ...

, Bliss was appointed KCVO (1969) and CH (1971). He received honorary degrees from the universities of

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

, Lancaster, and

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, as well as from

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

. The

London Symphony Orchestra The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London. Founded in 1904, the LSO is the oldest of London's orchestras, symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's ...

appointed him its honorary President in 1958. In 1963, he received the Gold Medal of the

Royal Philharmonic Society The Royal Philharmonic Society (RPS) is a British music society, formed in 1813. Its original purpose was to promote performances of instrumental music in London. Many composers and performers have taken part in its concerts. It is now a memb ...

. Bliss's archive is kept at

Cambridge University Library Cambridge University Library is the main research library of the University of Cambridge. It is the largest of the over 100 libraries within the university. The Library is a major scholarly resource for the members of the University of Cambri ...

. There is an Arthur Bliss Road in Newport, an Arthur Bliss Gardens in Cheltenham and a block of flats, Sir Arthur Bliss Court, in

Mitcham Mitcham is an area within the London Borough of Merton in South London, England. It is centred southwest of Charing Cross. Originally a village in the county of Surrey, today it is mainly a residential suburb, and includes Mitcham Common. It h ...

, South London. The Arthur Bliss Society was founded in 2003 to further the knowledge and appreciation of Bliss's music. The society's website includes listings of forthcoming performances of Bliss's works; in March 2011 the following works were listed as scheduled for performance in the UK and U.S.: ''Ceremonial Prelude''; Clarinet Quartet (2 performances); Four Songs for Voice, Violin and Piano; ''Music for Strings''; ''Pastoral (Lie strewn the white flocks)''; ''Royal Fanfares''; ''Seven American Poems''; String Quartet No. 2 (5 performances); ''Things to Come'' Suite (2 performances); ''Things to Come'' March. Many of Bliss's works have been recorded. He was a capable conductor, and was in charge of some of the recordings. The Library of Cambridge University maintains a complete Bliss discography. In March 2011 it contained details of 281 recordings: 120 orchestral, 56 chamber and instrumental, 58 choral and vocal, and 47 stage and screen works. Among the works that have received multiple recordings are ''A Colour Symphony'' (6 recordings); the Cello Concerto (6); the Piano Concerto (6); ''Music for Strings'' (7); the Oboe Quintet (7); the Viola Sonata (The violin sonata was first recorded in 2010) (7); and ''Checkmate'' (complete ballet and ballet suite (9)). On receiving the Gold Medal of the Royal Philharmonic Society in 1963, Bliss said, "I don't claim to have done more than light a small taper at the shrine of music. I do not upbraid Fate for not having given me greater gifts. Endeavour has been the joy".Bliss (1991), p. 209 A hundred years after Bliss's birth, Byron Adams wrote,

Notes and references

;Notes ;References

Sources

* * * * * * *

External links

Texts and translations of vocal music by Arthur Bliss
a
the LiederNet ArchiveThe Arthur Bliss society
*
Leicestershire Schools Symphony Orchestra websiteReview
of Cello Concerto
Arthur Bliss @ Boosey & Hawkes"Music from the Western Front"
performance by

Chamber Domaine Chamber Domaine is a British chamber music ensemble. The ensemble gave its highly praised South Bank and Wigmore Hall debuts in 1999 and since then has performed at leading festivals and concert series in the United Kingdom, Europe and North Amer ...

, which includes the Bliss Piano Quartet in A from 1915, given at

Gresham College Gresham College is an institution of higher learning located at Barnard's Inn Hall off Holborn in Central London, England. It does not enroll students or award degrees. It was founded in 1596 under the will of Sir Thomas Gresham, and hosts ove ...

, 26 September 2007 (available as an MP3 or MP4 download, as well as a text file). * *

Videos

* A short video of the Leicestershire Schools Symphony Orchestra conducted by Eric Pinkett. * Played on the piano by Sir Arthur Bliss ''Girl in a Broken Mirror'' A documentary featuring the ballet ''The Lady of Shallot'' performed by school pupils from Leicestershire and the LSSO conducted by Eric Pinkett. * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bliss, Arthur 1891 births 1975 deaths Military personnel from London 20th-century classical composers 20th-century English composers 20th-century British male musicians British ballet composers English classical composers English male classical composers Brass band composers Composers awarded knighthoods Masters of the Queen's Music Royal Philharmonic Society Gold Medallists Alumni of the Royal College of Music British Army personnel of World War I Grenadier Guards officers Royal Fusiliers officers Members of the Order of the Companions of Honour Knights Commander of the Royal Victorian Order Knights Bachelor People educated at Rugby School People educated at Bilton Grange Pupils of Charles Villiers Stanford Classical musicians associated with the BBC

Biography

Early years

Early compositions