Arthur Edward Drummond Bliss was an English composer born in London in 1891. He studied at the University of Cambridge and completed his musical training at London's Royal College of Music through contact with musicians of the stature of Vaughan Williams and Gustav Holst . Shortly later served as an infantry officer in World War I, telling that he went to the trenches, taking his gramophone and his scores under his arm. They do not tell is where he finished his musical baggage when I see such a guise appear superiors.
After the war he devotes himself to composition, showing an unusual interest for everything that smelled of modernity.
His works from this period are characterized by their freshness and innovation, as "Rhapsody" a piece for soprano, tenor, flute, English horn, string quartet and bass, where the voice has no text, but vocalizes one syllable, or "Rout" , a score for soprano and chamber orchestra whose text is also vocalizations and nonsense syllables. The influence of composers from across the Channel as Ravel, Stravinsky or Milhaud is present in the work of Bliss which is a clear break with the musical tradition of the British Isles before.
debut in 1922, directed by Edward Elgar ,
one of his most famous works and singular "A Colour Symphony" , his first major orchestral composition, which attempts to describe musically the different colors, each corresponding one movement (Purple, Red, Blue and Green). It seems that the inspiration gained from a book of heraldry, in which detailing the symbolic concepts associated with each color. I can hear the unique musical reading of purple Bliss ago in the first movement of Symphony. The interpretation is provided by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra led by Sir Charles Groves :
video
bartje11
In 1928 Bliss dedicates his "Pastoral: Lie Strawn the White Flocks " to Elgar, a composer by showing a very clear admiration, and can be seen from the time an evolution in his music leaving the land that is more experimental and daring of his early work to shift towards more conservative constructions distinct romantic. In this phase would fit your eg "Music for Strings" , played for the first time in Salzburg Festival in 1935, and some compositions for ballet as " Checkmate", from which we can see then the fragment duel between the black queen and knight red:
video
vaimusic
In 1934, the Hungarian-born British producer Alexander Korda made contact with Bliss to entrust the creation of a soundtrack for the movie
"Things to Come" (The Hereafter) , which was to be directed by William Cameron Menzies scripted of HG Wells . It advances the vision of what could be the world's evolution, from the then future 1940, during the next hundred years. Some aspects narrated in the film were a mere science fiction, but others, like the anticipation of what would become World War II and suffering for the population, were almost prophetic. With the passage of time and proliferation subsequent films of the genre, "Things to come" has been relegated to a utopian fantasy innocent Wells, although the undoubted values \u200b\u200bhave become a cult film for film buffs.
But besides the strictly cinematic merits it may have the movie, the soundtrack composed by Arthur Bliss has relevance
that should be highlighted. With the advent of talkies, the dialogue and the songs took on a huge role at the expense of the soundtrack, which was usually composed of recycled music from other movies or fragments of classical music. In the U.S., Max Steiner, with his work for "King Kong" (1933), give new and decisive turn in this field, creating an original score adapted to the action that accompanies it and it evolves , highlighting and enhancing the sensations that transmit images.
European cinema will be in Bliss with "Things to come" , who shortly after
will do the same, with a score full of strength that was built at the same time it was writing the script and that adapted to the images based on final assembly, getting an innovative and perfect conjunction between the narration and background music. The originality of the work of Bliss is evident already in the opening credits where it is stated that the music has been composed specifically for the film by Arthur Bliss .
Then we can hear a selection of themes from the soundtrack of "Things to Come" played by National Philharmonic Orchestra directed by the great Bernard Herrmann :
collectionCB video
Another film in which he collaborated Bliss was "Caesar and Cleopatra" (1945), directed by Gabriel Pascal on
novel by George Bernard Shaw , a beloved work for which I feel a great affection and I can not resist to watch from time to time, with a cast headed by Claude Rains (Caesar ) Vivian Leigh (Cleopatra ) and Stewart Granger (Apollodorus ) and a very young Roger Moore , with only 17, intervened briefly as a Roman soldier. Bliss the project was abandoned and the soundtrack of the film was finally composed by Georges Auric French author of some memorable soundtracks, like the film directed by John Huston "Moulin Rouge" (1952).
Although when started the Second World War Bliss was in the United States in 1941, with the race in full swing, he returned to London, where he became musical director of the BBC. They included the idea of \u200b\u200bthematic issues, and created some highly successful programs as "Music in our Time" or "This week's Composer" .
In 1950 he became Sir and soon Master of the Queen's Music , composing numerous works for events related to the royal family, as the music of the investiture of Charles as Prince of Wales in 1969.
Sir Arthur Bliss died in London in 1975 and today is recognized as one of the most prolific and versatile of twentieth century British composers.
After the war he devotes himself to composition, showing an unusual interest for everything that smelled of modernity.
His works from this period are characterized by their freshness and innovation, as "Rhapsody" a piece for soprano, tenor, flute, English horn, string quartet and bass, where the voice has no text, but vocalizes one syllable, or "Rout" , a score for soprano and chamber orchestra whose text is also vocalizations and nonsense syllables. The influence of composers from across the Channel as Ravel, Stravinsky or Milhaud is present in the work of Bliss which is a clear break with the musical tradition of the British Isles before. debut in 1922, directed by Edward Elgar ,
one of his most famous works and singular "A Colour Symphony" , his first major orchestral composition, which attempts to describe musically the different colors, each corresponding one movement (Purple, Red, Blue and Green). It seems that the inspiration gained from a book of heraldry, in which detailing the symbolic concepts associated with each color. I can hear the unique musical reading of purple Bliss ago in the first movement of Symphony. The interpretation is provided by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra led by Sir Charles Groves : video
bartje11
In 1928 Bliss dedicates his "Pastoral: Lie Strawn the White Flocks " to Elgar, a composer by showing a very clear admiration, and can be seen from the time an evolution in his music leaving the land that is more experimental and daring of his early work to shift towards more conservative constructions distinct romantic. In this phase would fit your eg "Music for Strings" , played for the first time in Salzburg Festival in 1935, and some compositions for ballet as " Checkmate", from which we can see then the fragment duel between the black queen and knight red:
video
vaimusic
In 1934, the Hungarian-born British producer Alexander Korda made contact with Bliss to entrust the creation of a soundtrack for the movie
"Things to Come" (The Hereafter) , which was to be directed by William Cameron Menzies scripted of HG Wells . It advances the vision of what could be the world's evolution, from the then future 1940, during the next hundred years. Some aspects narrated in the film were a mere science fiction, but others, like the anticipation of what would become World War II and suffering for the population, were almost prophetic. With the passage of time and proliferation subsequent films of the genre, "Things to come" has been relegated to a utopian fantasy innocent Wells, although the undoubted values \u200b\u200bhave become a cult film for film buffs. But besides the strictly cinematic merits it may have the movie, the soundtrack composed by Arthur Bliss has relevance
that should be highlighted. With the advent of talkies, the dialogue and the songs took on a huge role at the expense of the soundtrack, which was usually composed of recycled music from other movies or fragments of classical music. In the U.S., Max Steiner, with his work for "King Kong" (1933), give new and decisive turn in this field, creating an original score adapted to the action that accompanies it and it evolves , highlighting and enhancing the sensations that transmit images. European cinema will be in Bliss with "Things to come" , who shortly after
will do the same, with a score full of strength that was built at the same time it was writing the script and that adapted to the images based on final assembly, getting an innovative and perfect conjunction between the narration and background music. The originality of the work of Bliss is evident already in the opening credits where it is stated that the music has been composed specifically for the film by Arthur Bliss . Then we can hear a selection of themes from the soundtrack of "Things to Come" played by National Philharmonic Orchestra directed by the great Bernard Herrmann :
collectionCB video
Another film in which he collaborated Bliss was "Caesar and Cleopatra" (1945), directed by Gabriel Pascal on
novel by George Bernard Shaw , a beloved work for which I feel a great affection and I can not resist to watch from time to time, with a cast headed by Claude Rains (Caesar ) Vivian Leigh (Cleopatra ) and Stewart Granger (Apollodorus ) and a very young Roger Moore , with only 17, intervened briefly as a Roman soldier. Bliss the project was abandoned and the soundtrack of the film was finally composed by Georges Auric French author of some memorable soundtracks, like the film directed by John Huston "Moulin Rouge" (1952). Although when started the Second World War Bliss was in the United States in 1941, with the race in full swing, he returned to London, where he became musical director of the BBC. They included the idea of \u200b\u200bthematic issues, and created some highly successful programs as "Music in our Time" or "This week's Composer" .
In 1950 he became Sir and soon Master of the Queen's Music , composing numerous works for events related to the royal family, as the music of the investiture of Charles as Prince of Wales in 1969.
Sir Arthur Bliss died in London in 1975 and today is recognized as one of the most prolific and versatile of twentieth century British composers.
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