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Special offer. Bliss: Morning Heroes & Hymn to Apollo
Samuel West (orator)
BBC Symphony Orchestra, BBC Symphony Chorus, Sir Andrew Davis
Awards:
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Presto Recording of the Week, 25th September 2015
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2015
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Gramophone Awards, 2016, Finalist - Choral
Sir Andrew Davis's performance with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus surpasses Sir Charles Groves's fine 1974 EMI Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra account with urgent tempos, choral...
Special offer. Bliss: Morning Heroes & Hymn to Apollo
Samuel West (orator)
BBC Symphony Orchestra, BBC Symphony Chorus, Sir Andrew Davis
Purchase product
Awards:
-
Presto Recording of the Week, 25th September 2015
-
Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2015
-
Gramophone Awards, 2016, Finalist - Choral
Sir Andrew Davis's performance with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus surpasses Sir Charles Groves's fine 1974 EMI Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra account with urgent tempos, choral...
About
Sir Andrew Davis here conducts the BBC Symphony Chorus and Orchestra in works by Sir Arthur Bliss, with Samuel West as orator.
The disc was recorded after a remarkable performance of Morning Heroes at the Barbican in May 2015, The Guardian praising the 'excellent' Samuel West, and Davis who 'got [the] mood exactly right, and both the orchestra and chorus did everything that he asked of them… [producing] a convincingly symphonic shape'. 'One of the finest British choral works of its time,' it concluded, this work is 'now not heard as often as it deserves.'
The piece is coupled with the Hymn to Apollo, recorded here for the first time in its original 1926 version. Bliss said that this work of wistful sadness, anguish, and anger 'moves like a procession of supplicants'. Like many of his works, Morning Heroes and Hymn to Apollo were composed as a tribute to his brother Kennard who had died on the front during WWI. Both works were premiered in the 30's to immediate success but have been rather neglected since then.
Contents and tracklist
- Sir Andrew Davis, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Samuel West, BBC Symphony Chorus
- Recorded: 16-17 May 2015
- Recording Venue: Fairfield Halls, Croydon, UK
- Sir Andrew Davis, BBC Symphony Orchestra
- Recorded: 16-17 May 2015
- Recording Venue: Fairfield Halls, Croydon, UK
Spotlight on this release
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Episode 41: Standing out from the Crowd - Arthur Bliss with Paul Spicer
13th Aug 2023
Author Paul Spicer recently joined us at our store in Leamington Spa to discuss his new biography of Arthur Bliss, in conversation with Andrew Burn, chairman of The Bliss Trust.
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Andrew Davis conducts music by Arthur Bliss
25th Sep 2015
David listens to Andrew Davis's new recording of Bliss's choral masterpiece, Morning Heroes, with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus.
Awards and reviews
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Presto Recording of the Week25th September 2015
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Presto Recordings of the YearFinalist 2015
December 2015
Sir Andrew Davis's performance with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus surpasses Sir Charles Groves's fine 1974 EMI Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra account with urgent tempos, choral singing of full tone and incisive attack, eloquent orchestral playing, and an excellent, open recording
November 2015
this new recording is a revelation for its clarity (notably of the composer's vivid orchestral palette and imaginative choral writing), coherence and sheer emotional intensity
18th September 2015
This is a highly significant musical response to the First World War, and Davis and his musicians give it their all. If there’s any justice, this new recording will help to restore the work to its rightful place in the repertoire.
