Arthur Bliss, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, David Lloyd-Jones - Meditations On A Theme By John Blow
STYLE: Classical RATING OUR PRODUCT CODE: 95113- LABEL: Naxos 8572316 FORMAT: CD Album ITEMS: 1
Reviewed by Steven Whitehead
Allow me to set the scene before introducing the music: Sir Arthur Bliss (1891-1975) was appointed Master Of The Queen's Musick in 1953. The following year he was studying Volume VII of 'Musica Britannica, Coronation Anthems with Strings' by a former holder of the post, John Blow (1649-1708). Bliss was fired by the noble tune in the orchestral sinfonia to Psalm 23 and forced to confront some personal demons. As an officer serving in the First World War Bliss had heard the words of Psalm 23 used in funerals for the fallen so often that they had become worse than meaningless. Bliss had seen the dark side and walked into the shadows. Now, having heard Blow's more optimistic version, Bliss was ready to look beyond the valley of the shadow of death and see the house of the Lord. Thus what we have here is spiritual music even though it is orchestral although I am certain that most readers of this review will be able to add the words of the Psalm from memory. The music is beautiful and played beautifully too and I thoroughly enjoyed it. My appreciation was increased once I had read the very helpful and perceptive notes by Giles Easterbrook. The Meditations take 33 minutes but value for money is assured with 38 minutes of 'Metamorphic Variations', composed when Sir Arthur was in his 80s. This is a wonderful orchestral piece played superbly by the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra but with no discernable Christian content. It is, though, well worth hearing and Mr Easterbrook's notes help us to understand what the composer was hoping to achieve.
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