Sir Arthur Bliss

This title was first published in 2002. This volume of essays seeks to reflect aspects of the life and work of Arthur Bliss, Master of the Queen's Music. Though each is self-contained, the editor has attempted to keep a theme running throughout. Looking beyond surface impressions is an attitude constantly expressed.

Handwritten note partial envelope England Sir Arthur Edward Drummond Bliss, CH, KCVO (2 August 1891 - 27 March 1975) was an English composer and conductor. Bliss's musical training was cut short by the First World War, in which he served with distinction in the army. In the post-war years he quickly became known as an unconventional and modernist composer, but within the decade he began to display a more traditional and romantic side in his music. In the 1920s and 1930s he composed extensively not only for the concert hall, but also for films and ballet. In the Second World War, Bliss returned to England from the US to work for the BBC and became its director of music. After the war he resumed his work as a composer, and was appointed Master of the Queen's Music. In Bliss's later years, his work was respected but was thought old-fashioned, and it was eclipsed by the music of younger colleagues such as William Walton and Benjamin Britten. Since his death, his compositions have been well represented on record, and many of his better-known works remain in the repertoire of British orchestras.

A series of biographies of great composers which present the subjects against a social background of their times. Each book draws on personal letters and recollections, engravings, paintings - and - where they exist - photographs, to build up a complete picture of the composer's life.

Sir Arthur Bliss was one of England's most renowned twentieth-century composers. This bio-bibliography provides a brief biography prepared with the assistance of the composer's widow. It then presents a complete list of works and performances, classified by genre and arranged alphabetically by title of composition. Each entry contains a list of premiere performances, with references to commentaries from performance reviews cited in the bibliography. Brief details are also given concerning original manuscripts and their location. The next section contains a discography of commercially and privately produced sound recordings. An annotated bibliography of writings by the composer and about him and his music follows. Annotations are often in the form of quotations from performance reviews. The bibliography concludes with appendices providing alphabetical and chronological listings of Bliss's works and a complete index of names and titles.

Arthur Bliss (1891–1975) was one of the most important British musicians of his age. Born into a family where music played a highly significant role, his talent emerged early. He served with distinction in the Great War, in which he was both injured and gassed. After the War he set the musical world alight with ultra-modern works, earning himself the soubriquet enfant terrible and leading to his first major work, the Colour Symphony. His dual American/British birthright led to a close connection with the USA and marriage to an American girl, Trudy Hoffman, who would be a mainstay of his life. Before long he became the most performed British composer abroad and his portfolio of works included ballet, film (H.G. Wells's Things to Come remains one of the finest film scores), opera, orchestral, chamber, choral works and song. He was a diplomat, a skill that was recognized in many appointments from the Government to travel using music as soft power, notably to Russia in 1956. He served as Director of Music at the BBC from 1942–4, was knighted and soon after appointed Master of the Queen's Music. Bliss was a private figure who stated that the only way to get to know him was through his music. Paul Spicer takes this as his starting point for this pioneering biography, which underlines the timely importance of a complete reappraisal of this important composer's music.

Master of the Queen's Music from 1953 to 1975, Arthur Bliss is now recognized as one of the most important figures in English music this century. This source book, the result of 20 years of research, provides a detailed reference work for all those interested in Bliss's life and music. It contains the most complete and up-to-date bibliography of references both by and about Bliss and features details of the composer's letters which have never before been published. Also included are a discography, a chronology and a special section on the manuscripts and first editions. In bringing all this information together for the first time, Stewart Craggs's volume will prove invaluable to music librarians and scholars alike.