Arthur Bliss facts for kids
Sir Arthur Edward Drummond Bliss (2 August 1891 – 27 March 1975) was a famous English composer and conductor.
Arthur Bliss's music training was stopped short by World War I, where he served bravely in the army. After the war, he quickly became known for his new and modern music. But soon, his music started to sound more traditional and romantic. In the 1920s and 1930s, he wrote a lot of music. This included pieces for concerts, films, and ballets.
During World War II, Bliss came back to England from the US. He worked for the BBC and became its director of music. After the war, he went back to composing. He was also given the important job of Master of the Queen's Music.
In his later years, people respected Bliss's work. However, some thought it sounded a bit old-fashioned. Younger composers like William Walton and Benjamin Britten became more popular. Since his death, many of his works have been recorded. Some of his best-known pieces are still played by British orchestras today.
Contents
Biography
Early Life
Arthur Bliss was born in Barnes, a London suburb. He was the oldest of three sons. His father, Francis Edward Bliss, was a businessman from America. His mother, Agnes Kennard Davis, sadly died in 1895.
His father raised the boys and taught them to love art. Bliss went to Bilton Grange school and Rugby. Later, he studied at Pembroke College, Cambridge. There, he studied classics and took music lessons from Charles Wood. Other important influences at Cambridge were Edward Elgar and E.J. Dent.
Bliss finished his studies in 1913. He then spent a year at the Royal College of Music in London. He found his composition teacher, Charles Villiers Stanford, not very helpful. But he learned a lot from Ralph Vaughan Williams and Gustav Holst. He also learned from his friends and fellow students, Herbert Howells, Eugene Goossens, and Arthur Benjamin.
During his time at college, he discovered music from the Second Viennese School. He also enjoyed the ballets of Diaghilev's Ballets Russes. These ballets featured music by modern composers like Debussy, Ravel, and Stravinsky.
War and Early Music
When World War I started, Bliss joined the army. He fought in France as an officer. He served with the Royal Fusiliers and then the Grenadier Guards. He was recognized for his bravery and was wounded twice. He was also affected by gas.
His younger brother, Kennard, died in the war. This deeply affected Bliss. One writer noted that the war left lasting emotional wounds on him. In 1918, Bliss became a Roman Catholic.
Bliss started composing as a schoolboy. But he later decided that his first real piece was Madam Noy from 1918. After the war, his career quickly grew. He became known for his new and surprising pieces. These often used unusual groups of instruments. They were strongly influenced by Ravel, Stravinsky, and the young French composers of Les Six.
One of his early works was a concerto for a wordless tenor voice, piano, and strings (1920). Another was Rout for a wordless soprano and a small group of instruments. Rout was so popular that the audience asked for it to be played twice more at its first performance!
In 1919, he arranged music for a play called As You Like It. He also conducted concerts and an opera at the Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith. In 1921, he wrote new music for a play called The Tempest. This music used male voices, piano, trumpet, trombone, gongs, and five percussion players spread around the theatre.
By 1922, Bliss was seen as a bold composer. He was asked to write a large symphony for the Three Choirs Festival. This work was called A Colour Symphony. It was very well received. Critics praised his clever writing and called him a serious composer. Even Edward Elgar, who heard the first performance, said it was "disconcertingly modern."
Moving Towards a Traditional Style
In 1923, Bliss's father moved to California, USA. Bliss went with him and stayed for two years. He worked as a conductor, lecturer, pianist, and sometimes a critic. There, he met Gertrude "Trudy" Hoffmann. They married in 1925. Their marriage was very happy and they had two daughters. Soon after, Bliss and Trudy moved back to England.
From the mid-1920s, Bliss started to write music that was more in the traditional English style. He moved away from the influences of Stravinsky and French modernists. One critic said he "admitted to a romantic heart." He wrote two major works for American orchestras: Introduction and Allegro (1926) and Hymn to Apollo (1926).
In the 1930s, Bliss wrote Pastoral (1930). In the same year, he wrote Morning Heroes. This work for narrator, choir, and orchestra helped him deal with his memories of World War I. He said he was still troubled by nightmares about the war.
During this time, Bliss also wrote music for famous soloists. These included a Clarinet Quintet (1932) and a Viola Sonata (1933). In 1935, his Music for Strings helped him become known as a successor to Elgar. This piece was romantic and richly scored. Two of his dramatic works from this time are still well known. These are the music for the 1936 film Things to Come and his ballet Checkmate. Checkmate is based on a chess game and is still performed by the Royal Ballet.
By the late 1930s, Bliss was no longer seen as a modern composer. The music of younger composers like William Walton and Benjamin Britten became more popular. Bliss's last big work of the 1930s was his Piano Concerto. He wrote it for the pianist Solomon. It was first performed in New York in June 1939. Bliss and his family were there for the performance and stayed for a holiday. While they were in the US, World War II began. Bliss first stayed in America, teaching at the University of California, Berkeley. But he felt he needed to return to England to help with the war effort. In 1941, he made the dangerous trip across the Atlantic, leaving his family in California.
World War II and BBC Role
At first, Bliss found it hard to find useful work in England. He joined the BBC's overseas music service in May 1941. But he felt he was not using his full potential. He suggested to Sir Adrian Boult, the BBC's director of music, that he take over the role. Bliss wrote to his wife that he wanted "more power" to contribute fully. Boult agreed, which allowed him to focus on conducting. Bliss served as director of music at the BBC from 1942 to 1944. He helped set up the Third Programme, a classical music station, which launched after the war. During the war, he also worked on the music committee of the British Council.
In 1944, Bliss's family returned from the US. He then left the BBC and went back to composing. He had not written anything since his String Quartet in 1941. He composed more film music and two ballets: Miracle in the Gorbals (1944) and Adam Zero (1946).
In 1948, Bliss tried writing an opera called The Olympians. He worked with his friend, the writer J. B. Priestley. The story was about old gods who become traveling actors. The opera opened the 1949–50 season at Covent Garden. Some critics praised it, but it did not become very popular. After ten performances, it was not revived.
Later Years and Legacy
In 1950, Bliss was made a knight. After Sir Arnold Bax died, Bliss was appointed Master of the Queen's Music in 1953. This was a relief to William Walton, who worried he would be asked. The duties of this role include writing music for royal events. Bliss was good at this, composing quickly for occasions like royal births, funerals (like Winston Churchill's), and the investiture of the Prince of Wales. His music for the 1953 coronation was highly praised.
In 1956, Bliss led the first group of British musicians to visit the Soviet Union after World War II. He returned to Moscow in 1958 as a judge for the International Tchaikovsky Competition.
Bliss kept composing steadily through the 1950s. His works from this time include his Second String Quartet (1950), a piece for contralto called The Enchantress (1951), a Piano Sonata (1952), and a Violin Concerto (1955). His orchestral piece Meditations on a Theme by John Blow (1955) was very meaningful to him. In 1959–60, he worked on an opera for television called Tobias and the Angel.
In 1961, Bliss worked with writer Christopher Hassall on a cantata called The Beatitudes. It was written for the opening of the new Coventry Cathedral. While reviews were good, it is rarely performed today. It was overshadowed by Benjamin Britten's famous War Requiem, also written for Coventry. Bliss then wrote two more large choral works: Mary of Magdala (1962) and The Golden Cantata (1963).
Bliss always cared deeply about music in Britain. In 1969, he spoke out against the BBC's plan to cut classical music funding. He continued to compose into his 80s. His later works include the Cello Concerto (1970) for Mstislav Rostropovich, Metamorphic Variations for orchestra (1972), and his last cantata, Shield of Faith (1974).
Arthur Bliss died in London in 1975, at age 83. His wife, Trudy, lived for another 33 years, passing away in 2008 at 104.
His Music
Early and Experimental Works
Some people thought Bliss's early music was rebellious, but he later became more traditional. Madam Noy, a "witchery" song from 1920, used unusual instruments like flute, clarinet, bassoon, harp, viola, and bass. A writer in 1923 said this piece showed the direction Bliss would take.
His Rout (1920) was a lively piece for soprano and instruments. The singer used meaningless sounds to create a carnival-like feeling. In Conversations (1921), Bliss chose everyday subjects for his music. It had five parts: "Committee Meeting," "In the Wood," "In the Ball-room," "Soliloquy," and "In the Tube at Oxford Circus."
Bliss also wrote a Concerto (1920) for piano, voice, and orchestra. This was experimental, and he later removed the voice part. His Melée Fantasque (1921) showed his skill in writing bright and sparkling orchestral music.
Famous Compositions
While Rout is sometimes performed, the first of Bliss's works to become widely known in the UK was A Colour Symphony. Each of its four movements represents a different colour:
- Purple: for royalty, pageantry, and death.
- Red: for passion, courage, and magic.
- Blue: for loyalty, deep water, and sadness.
- Green: for hope, joy, youth, and spring.
The first and third movements are slow, the second is a fast scherzo, and the fourth is a complex fugal piece. Experts say the fourth movement is a "compositional tour de force." After his marriage, Bliss's music became more mature. Works like the Oboe Quintet (1927), Pastoral (1929), and Serenade (1929) showed a feeling of happiness and peace.
Many of Bliss's mature works were inspired by outside things. Some were written for specific performers, like his concertos for piano (1938), violin (1955), and cello (1970). Others were inspired by stories, plays, or films, such as his ballets, cantatas, and The Olympians. Some were inspired by art or classical literature.
Among his later works, the Cello Concerto is played quite often. When Mstislav Rostropovich first performed it in 1970, Benjamin Britten thought it was a major work. Bliss himself said of it, "There are no problems for the listener – only for the soloist."
Sometimes, a darker or more intense feeling appears in Bliss's music. Examples include parts of The Meditations on a Theme of John Blow and the start of The Beatitudes. These moments can be quite unsettling.
Experts highlight many of Bliss's best works. These include the energetic A Colour Symphony, the moving Morning Heroes, the romantic Clarinet Quintet, and the dramatic Checkmate, Miracle in the Gorbals, and Things to Come. Also noted are the thoughtful Meditations on a Theme of John Blow and Shield of Faith. Other top works are the Introduction and Allegro, Music for Strings, the Oboe Quintet, A Knot of Riddles, and the Golden Cantata.
Awards and Recognition
Besides being knighted, Bliss received other high honours. He was appointed KCVO in 1969 and CH in 1971. He also received honorary degrees from many universities, including Bristol, Cambridge, and Princeton University.
The London Symphony Orchestra made him its honorary President in 1958. In 1963, he received the Gold Medal from the Royal Philharmonic Society.
Bliss's personal papers and music are kept at Cambridge University Library. There are also places named after him, like Arthur Bliss Road in Newport and Sir Arthur Bliss Court in Mitcham, London.
The Arthur Bliss Society was started in 2003. Its goal is to help people learn about and enjoy Bliss's music. Their website lists upcoming performances of his works. Many of Bliss's pieces have been recorded. He was also a good conductor and led some of these recordings himself. The Cambridge University Library has a full list of all 281 recordings of his music.
When he received the Gold Medal in 1963, Bliss said he only aimed to "light a small taper at the shrine of music." He was happy with his efforts, saying, "Endeavour has been the joy."
See Also
In Spanish: Arthur Bliss para niños
- Color symbolism
