The Film Music of Sir Arthur Bliss
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CD Details
Composer: Arthur BlissConductor: Rumon Gamba
Orchestra: BBC Philharmonic Orchestra
Edition: Music CD
Audio: English (Original Language)
CD Release Date: 2001-04-24
Music Label: Chandos
Soundtracks:
- Welcome The Queen: March/Moderato Ma Con Brio - Andante Maestoso
- Things To Come: 1. Prologue. Maestoso
- Things To Come: 2. Ballet For Children. Allegro Moderato
- Things To Come: 3. March. Alla Marcia
- Things To Come: 4. Attack. Allegro Con Fuoco
- Things To Come: 5. The World In Ruins. Lento Doloroso
- Things To Come: 6. Pestilence. Molto Sostenuto
- Things To Come: 7. Excavation. Moderato E Pesante
- Things To Come: 8. The Building Of The New World. Allegro Moderato Molto Deciso
- Things To Come: 9. Machines. Moderato
- Things To Come: 10. Attack On The Moon Gun. Molto Allegro Fuoco
- Things To Come: 11. Epilogue. Maestoso
- The Royal Palaces Suite: I. Queen Victoria's Call To The Throne
- The Royal Palaces Suite: II. The Ballroom In Buckingham Palace
- The Royal Palaces Suite: III. Joust Of The Knights In Armour (George IV's Reign)
- The Royal Palaces Suite: IV. Melodrama: The Murder Of Rizzio In Holyrood House
- The Royal Palaces Suite: V. The Royal Palace, Theme
- Caesar And Cleopatra: 1. Overture. Allegro Marcia
- Caesar And Cleopatra: 2. The Sea. Lento
- Caesar And Cleopatra: 3. Dance Interlude I. Allegretto Giocoso
- Caesar And Cleopatra: 4. Dance Interlude II. Allegro Molto
- Caesar And Cleopatra: 5. Dance Interlude III. Waltz Time
- Caesar And Cleopatra: 6. Barcarolle. Allegretto Piacevole
- Caesar And Cleopatra: 7. Memphis At Night. Andantino
- Caesar And Cleopatra: 8. Supply Sequence. (Allegro)
- War In The Air: Theme (Moderato Maestoso)
Music reviews of The Film Music of Sir Arthur Bliss
Music Review: Let the Trumpets Sound!
Rating: 5 Stars
If the Marco Polo CD, under "Adriano," of the scores for "Seven Waves Away," "Christopher Columbus," and "Man of Two Worlds" were still available, then, with the splendid new Chandos CD, under Rumon Gamba, it would be possible to assemble the complete film-music of Sir Arthur Bliss (1891-1975). The Chandos issue is a real treat. It includes the march "Welcome the Queen" (1953), originally written for a short film about Elizabeth II in the first year of her reign, a new suite from the score to "Things to Come" (1936), abandoned music for a film of Shaw's "Caesar and Cleopatra" (1945), music for a BBC travelogue on "The Royal Palaces" (1966), and, at last, the main-title from the documentary "War in the Air" (1954). Gamba leads the BBC Philharmonic. The center of attention on the program will be the suite from "Things to Come," the H.G. Wells' science fiction epic produced by Alexander Korda and directed by William Cameron Menzies, which set the mark for the genre for the rest of the century; Bliss's score established the canons of the symphonic cinema accompaniment, with big gestures and bright colors, numerous marches and fanfares, and a distinctly Elgarian apotheosis for the climax. An album of excerpts, led by Bliss, on 78rpm sides became a best-seller even before the film had its premiere. The fate of the score paralleled the fate of the film, which was to be cut down to two from its original three hours, and then again to ninety minutes for American distribution. Bliss salvaged a rousing March, which had an independent life as a program-filler, and recorded a suite of truncated passages, in stereo, for Decca, in the late-1950s. The current reconstructed suite, done by Philip Lane, at long last salvages the important "machine ballet" from the sequence called "The Building of the New World," the most distinctively "modern" music in the score. Lane wisely omits the Christmas carols from the opening "War" sequence, included by John Mauceri on a Philips CD, which disrupt the atmosphere. At over thirty minutes, Lane's arrangement gives the best representation yet of the full panoply of this remarkable music. Only slightly less epic in its sweep is the score for "Caesar and Cleopatra." Bliss plays it straight, avoiding the mock-antique style that Miklos Rosza would bring to the genre in the 1950s, but supplying the brilliant retail that makes his music instantly recognizable. After Bliss withdrew from the project, Georges Auric provided the score. Bliss wrote "The Royal Palaces" for television; the music is "veddy veddy British," as befits the subject, but not so original as "Things to Come" or "Caesar and Cleopatra." We have, finally, the thrilling, warm-hearted "Welcome the Queen," close in spirit to Walton's royal marches, and the main title for "War in the Air," which is rather in the vein of "Things to Come" when it depicts the aerial New World Order in the last of its sequences. The booklet is quite good, with detailed accounts of all the items on the program. This is the first time that I've ever heard of Rumon Gamba, who leads the BBC Philharmonic in thrilling performances. The main thing to be said about this music is that none of it is mere film-accompaniment. Like Prokofiev's, Bliss's film-music stands on its own; it is symphonic in dimension and deeply satisfying. The CD itself is embossed with a film-poster image from "Things to Come," which also decorates the booklet. Nifty and recommended.
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