Thread: TC Listening Club Part 9: A Colour Symphony (Bliss)

This week's piece chosen by An Die Freude

PURCHASE OPTIONS

Here are some available purchasing options. Any additions to this list welcome:

Bliss: A Colour Symphony/Adam Zero (Lloyd-Jones, English Northern Phil.) (Naxos)
Bliss: Violin Concerto/A Colour Symphony (Hickox, BBC National Orch. of Wales) (Chandos)
Bliss: A Colour Symphony etc (Handley, Royal Philharmonia Orch.) (EMI Classics)
Bliss: A Colour Symphony/The Enchantress/Cello Concerto (Handley, Ulster Orchestra) (Chandos)
Bliss: A Colour Symphony/Metamorphic Variations (Wordsworth, BBC Welsh Sym. Orch.) (Nimbus)

YouTube LINKS

For those who require them:

Performance by Royal Philharmonic conducted by Sir Charles Groves:

1. Purple: Andante maestoso
2. Red: Allegro vivace
3. Blue: Gently flowing

Performance by BBC Welsh Symphony Orchestra conducted by Barry Wordsworth:

4. Green: Moderato

OTHER INFORMATION

Check out the Wikipedia article on this work:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Colour_Symphony

(The following program notes taken from AllMusicGuide)

A Colour Symphony, dedicated to legendary conductor Sir Adrian Boult, was British composer Sir Arthur Bliss' first major work for orchestra. Completed in 1922, it shares the full-blooded Romantic style of his teachers at the Royal College of Music in London (Charles Stanford, Gustav Holst, and Ralph Vaughan Williams), but is laced with a more progressive twentieth century edge. No less a musical figure than Sir Edward Elgar encouraged the Gloucester Three Choirs Festival to commission the work, along with pieces by two other promising young English composers: Eugene Goossens and Herbert Howells. Its premiere in Gloucester Cathedral in 1922, conducted by the composer, was marred by a badly prepared performance. Some, including Elgar, found it disconcertingly "modern." Bliss revised large portions of the symphony in 1932, and it is that version that is popular today.

Bliss found his inspiration for A Colour Symphony in a book about the symbolic associations of the primary colors in heraldry. The four movements, episodic in nature, each characterize a particular color. The composer contended that the intent behind the work was to evoke or imply certain feelings and moods rather than to dictate a specific program or scenario. This work is marked with vivid orchestration and a tuneful accessibility. The first movement, "Purple" (Andante maestoso), captures the noble dignity Bliss associated with "...Pageantry, Royalty, and Death." A feeling of ceremony is established through a processional-like quality, while the martial aspect is reinforced by bold trumpet fanfares. "Red" (Allegro vivace) embodies fire, energy, and impetuosity. Exciting contrasts exist between a lilting lyricism in the strings and brilliant passages in the brass. These latter moments bring Igor Stravinsky to mind. "Blue" (Gently flowing) is the most introspective and perhaps most evocative movement. The composer referred to the obvious association of this color, "...Deep Water, Skies...." Indeed, its imagery and tonality border on the impressionistic. The final movement, "Green" (Moderato), is the most "modern" sounding with its angular melodic line that initiates the first of two fugues. Bliss described the color green as "...Hope, Youth, Joy, Spring, and Victory." Again, there are moments of Stravinsky-like vitality and ritualistic repetition, similar to his Firebird ballet. After a somewhat academic opening, the movement launches into a triumphant affirmation. A second fugue section leads to an explosive climax featuring six thundering tympani, eventually ending on an almost jazzy sounding sixth chord.

UPCOMING

The schedule for the next four Listening Club sessions will be:

PART 10: Keyboard Concerto No. 1 (Bach, J.S.) chosen by Merve and starting 14/08/12
PART 11: Relache (Satie) chosen by cwarchc and starting 21/08/12
PART 12: TBC by emiellucifuge before 20/08/12 and starting 28/08/12
PART 13: Symphony No. 5 (Sibelius) chosen by Sonata and starting 04/09/12

OTHER THREADS

You can still participate in past Listening Club threads here:

TC Listening Club Week 1: Symphony No. 1 in E Flat (Borodin)
TC Listening Club Week 2: String Quartet No. 15 in A Minor (Beethoven)
TC Listening Club Part 3: Symphony No. 5 (Nielsen)
TC Listening Club Part 4: Symphony No. 3 (Rangström)
TC Listening Club Part 5: A Faust Symphony (Liszt)
TC Listening Club Part 6: Gruppen (Stockhausen)
TC Listening Club Part 7: Cello Suite No. 6 (Bach, J.S.)
TC Listening Club Part 8: Piano Sonata No. 16 (Beethoven)

NOMINATIONS

To sign up and nominate pieces for listening, use the following thread or PM crmoorhead.

The Listening Club

If a member does not nominate a piece before the deadline in the schedule, you will lose your turn and a piece will be selected at random from the list of pieces nominated by other members. Nominations must be available on YouTube.

The beginning of the first movement reminded me of Stravinsky's neoclassical harmonies.

It’s a very interesting symphony, I have the Naxos recording.
First time I listened to it I didn’t warm to it but 3rd time round I’m just starting to get into it!

I have heard only two works of Arthur Bliss, this symphony and his ballet Adam Zero. I must say I find Adam Zero more fun to listen to, but his Colour Symphony is also nice. I'm not really so much of a fan of British music in general but it's good to listen to every now and then.

Never heard a note of it before and have listened a few times.
Finding the last movement the most enjoyable so far and the third. First movement hasn't grabbed me yet.
I'll keep coming back to it and see what sticks.

Just had a listen on Youtube, haven't come across Bliss before
Have to say I like these pieces
Especially the third movement
I will be exploring another "new" composer in the next few weeks
Chris

I really love this symphony and would probably count it as among one of my favourites. I have listened to the NAxos recording, but also listened to the Ulster orchestra/Handley version on streaming. The idea of using colours as inspiration is one which I find as an interesting concept. I'll keep my summary brief.

The first movement is dignified and full of latent power. There are moments that sound a little like fanfare, but overall it plods along in a stately march while the harp adds something mystical to the movement.

The second is full of energy, dancing rhythms and dissonances. Each instrument in the orchestra seems to have its moment as if all are living creatures with their own energy trying to soar above the rest.

The third movement is tranquil, though also has moments where the music seems to ebb and flow with energy. Some very nice orchestral colour here. Quite a lot of this movement is reminiscent of birdsong and it makes me think of life on a riverside, though that is probably influenced only by the suggestion of the colour blue.

The final movement just blows me away. It took a few listens for me to love it, but now it is one of those pieces of music that is guaranteed to make me excited. There are two different fugues here using melodies from other parts of the symphony. The opening fugue is from the first movement (in a much more dissonant form), but parts from the final minute of the second movement feature also appear later on. The last movement does seem to borrow and modify a lot of musical ideas from the other movements, but I find the overall effect is striking. I envisage this movement (with regard to the program) as exhibiting spurts of growth and one part of it makes me think of a giant or enormous beast striding high above mere humans.

There are probably more things I haven't noticed about this symphony, or parts that I could try to explain better, but that's all for now.

I would score this 8/10.

Originally Posted by crmoorhead

I really love this symphony and would probably count it as among one of my favourites.

...

I would score this 8/10.

You definitely live in the UK

Sorry for taking so long to reply. I listened to the first movement on Youtube but then my (very defective) browser wouldn't play the second. But I really liked the first and decided to buy it, and so I did and only now have listened to it.

I like it a lot better than most of Elgar, and indeed for an English piece it is very good. From the first chords I must admit I thought the nationality shone through - there is something melancholic permeating so much of our music, perhaps not always to the best.

I find it difficult to appreciate pieces like this on an intellectual level, but since, despite its modernism, I think it is Romantic in essence, this is perhaps deliberate. Emotionally however, I thought it was very powerful. One thing that struck me was that each movement seemed quite separate: for all the clear leading-on techniques and thematic similarities mentioned above (which I must confess I thoroughly failed to notice) it struck me that each movement had a very definite contour to it, with a big climax perhaps 2/3rds of the way through. Perhaps the tension in the third movement echoes this on a large scale, but I felt that there was greater independence in each movement than in, say, a Sibelius or Mahler symphony. Each had its own direction. This is perhaps because each is supposed to be a separate colour and thus have its own distinctive character.

Probably a 7 or 7.5/10