Naxos
Bliss: Meditations On A Theme By John Blow, Metamorphic Variations / Lloyd-Jones
$19.99
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Details
- Composer
- BLISS, ARTHUR
- Artist
- Lloyd-Jones, Bournemouth So
- Format
- CD
- Label
- Naxos
- Released
- May 25, 2010
- Catalog #
- 8572316
- UPC
- 747313231676
About
Arthur Bliss is a hard composer to place. He maintained a very high standard of craftsmanship throughout his long career (he died at 84 in 1975, and wrote music for more than half a century), but his idiom was more "20th-century tonal English" than overtly personal. He became Master of the Queen's Musick, a position difficult for non-British listeners to take seriously, but evidently he enjoyed the job. There is, in fact, a certain heraldic quality to his writing, most evident in A Color Symphony, and there's an aristocratic fastidiousness that's quite evident in the two pieces on this disc, even when they rise to passionate climaxes.
The Meditations on a Theme by John Blow may well be Bliss' orchestral masterpiece. It's a gravely beautiful piece, well-contrasted, frequently touching, and unforgettably scored. The actual tune doesn't appear in full until the end, when it emerges with unforced majesty as the inevitable culmination of the half-hour's prior journey. Metamorphic Variations, a very late piece written just a couple of years before Bliss' death, is a touch less richly colored, and it takes a while to warm up; but the work's latter half (the sequence running, in order, Polonaise, Funeral Procession, Cool Interlude, Scherzo II, Duet) is marvelous, and the gently affirmative ending is unaffectedly poetic.
David Lloyd-Jones has made several fine Bliss recordings for Naxos, and this is another. The Bournemouth Symphony plays beautifully throughout and is very well recorded. Indeed, Naxos' Bliss series represents one of the label's more noteworthy efforts on behalf of any British composer--but is anyone noticing? This series remains somewhat "under the radar", but it surely deserves the attention of all serious collectors.
--David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com
The Meditations on a Theme by John Blow may well be Bliss' orchestral masterpiece. It's a gravely beautiful piece, well-contrasted, frequently touching, and unforgettably scored. The actual tune doesn't appear in full until the end, when it emerges with unforced majesty as the inevitable culmination of the half-hour's prior journey. Metamorphic Variations, a very late piece written just a couple of years before Bliss' death, is a touch less richly colored, and it takes a while to warm up; but the work's latter half (the sequence running, in order, Polonaise, Funeral Procession, Cool Interlude, Scherzo II, Duet) is marvelous, and the gently affirmative ending is unaffectedly poetic.
David Lloyd-Jones has made several fine Bliss recordings for Naxos, and this is another. The Bournemouth Symphony plays beautifully throughout and is very well recorded. Indeed, Naxos' Bliss series represents one of the label's more noteworthy efforts on behalf of any British composer--but is anyone noticing? This series remains somewhat "under the radar", but it surely deserves the attention of all serious collectors.
--David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com
Tracklist 22 tracks
-
1 Introduction: The Lord is my Shepherd - I will fear no evil 07:29
- Track
- 1
- Title
- Introduction: The Lord is my Shepherd - I will fear no evil
- Duration
- 07:29
- Composer
- Arthur Bliss
- Ensemble
- Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra
- Conductor
- David Lloyd-Jones
-
2 Meditation I: He leadeth me beside the still waters 03:27
- Track
- 2
- Title
- Meditation I: He leadeth me beside the still waters
- Duration
- 03:27
- Composer
- Arthur Bliss
- Ensemble
- Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra
- Conductor
- David Lloyd-Jones
-
3 Meditation II: Thy rod and staff they comfort me 02:53
- Track
- 3
- Title
- Meditation II: Thy rod and staff they comfort me
- Duration
- 02:53
- Composer
- Arthur Bliss
- Ensemble
- Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra
- Conductor
- David Lloyd-Jones
-
4 Meditation III: Lambs 02:34
- Track
- 4
- Title
- Meditation III: Lambs
- Duration
- 02:34
- Composer
- Arthur Bliss
- Ensemble
- Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra
- Conductor
- David Lloyd-Jones
-
5 Meditation IV: He restoreth my soul 02:30
- Track
- 5
- Title
- Meditation IV: He restoreth my soul
- Duration
- 02:30
- Composer
- Arthur Bliss
- Ensemble
- Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra
- Conductor
- David Lloyd-Jones
-
6 Meditation V: In green pastures 04:52
- Track
- 6
- Title
- Meditation V: In green pastures
- Duration
- 04:52
- Composer
- Arthur Bliss
- Ensemble
- Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra
- Conductor
- David Lloyd-Jones
-
7 Interlude: Through the valley of the shadow of death 03:58
- Track
- 7
- Title
- Interlude: Through the valley of the shadow of death
- Duration
- 03:58
- Composer
- Arthur Bliss
- Ensemble
- Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra
- Conductor
- David Lloyd-Jones
-
8 Finale: In the house of the Lord 06:04
- Track
- 8
- Title
- Finale: In the house of the Lord
- Duration
- 06:04
- Composer
- Arthur Bliss
- Ensemble
- Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra
- Conductor
- David Lloyd-Jones
-
9 Variation 1: Elements 03:39
- Track
- 9
- Title
- Variation 1: Elements
- Duration
- 03:39
- Composer
- Arthur Bliss
- Ensemble
- Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra
- Conductor
- David Lloyd-Jones
-
10 Variation 2: Ballet 01:34
- Track
- 10
- Title
- Variation 2: Ballet
- Duration
- 01:34
- Composer
- Arthur Bliss
- Ensemble
- Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra
- Conductor
- David Lloyd-Jones
-
11 Variation 3: Assertion 02:16
- Track
- 11
- Title
- Variation 3: Assertion
- Duration
- 02:16
- Composer
- Arthur Bliss
- Ensemble
- Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra
- Conductor
- David Lloyd-Jones
-
12 Variation 4: Speculation 01:48
- Track
- 12
- Title
- Variation 4: Speculation
- Duration
- 01:48
- Composer
- Arthur Bliss
- Ensemble
- Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra
- Conductor
- David Lloyd-Jones
-
13 Variation 5: Interjections 03:59
- Track
- 13
- Title
- Variation 5: Interjections
- Duration
- 03:59
- Composer
- Arthur Bliss
- Ensemble
- Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra
- Conductor
- David Lloyd-Jones
-
14 Variation 6: Scherzo I 02:52
- Track
- 14
- Title
- Variation 6: Scherzo I
- Duration
- 02:52
- Composer
- Arthur Bliss
- Ensemble
- Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra
- Conductor
- David Lloyd-Jones
-
15 Variation 7: Contemplation 02:25
- Track
- 15
- Title
- Variation 7: Contemplation
- Duration
- 02:25
- Composer
- Arthur Bliss
- Ensemble
- Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra
- Conductor
- David Lloyd-Jones
-
16 Variation 8: Polonaise 03:45
- Track
- 16
- Title
- Variation 8: Polonaise
- Duration
- 03:45
- Composer
- Arthur Bliss
- Ensemble
- Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra
- Conductor
- David Lloyd-Jones
-
17 Variation 9: Funeral Processions 04:07
- Track
- 17
- Title
- Variation 9: Funeral Processions
- Duration
- 04:07
- Composer
- Arthur Bliss
- Ensemble
- Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra
- Conductor
- David Lloyd-Jones
-
18 Variation 10: Cool Interlude 02:57
- Track
- 18
- Title
- Variation 10: Cool Interlude
- Duration
- 02:57
- Composer
- Arthur Bliss
- Ensemble
- Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra
- Conductor
- David Lloyd-Jones
-
19 Variation 11: Scherzo II 01:45
- Track
- 19
- Title
- Variation 11: Scherzo II
- Duration
- 01:45
- Composer
- Arthur Bliss
- Ensemble
- Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra
- Conductor
- David Lloyd-Jones
-
20 Variation 12: Duet 02:20
- Track
- 20
- Title
- Variation 12: Duet
- Duration
- 02:20
- Composer
- Arthur Bliss
- Ensemble
- Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra
- Conductor
- David Lloyd-Jones
-
21 Variation 13: Dedicated to G.D. and A.D. 00:52
- Track
- 21
- Title
- Variation 13: Dedicated to G.D. and A.D.
- Duration
- 00:52
- Composer
- Arthur Bliss
- Ensemble
- Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra
- Conductor
- David Lloyd-Jones
-
22 Variation 14: Affirmation 04:31
- Track
- 22
- Title
- Variation 14: Affirmation
- Duration
- 04:31
- Composer
- Arthur Bliss
- Ensemble
- Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra
- Conductor
- David Lloyd-Jones