Arthur Bliss - Miracle In The Gorbals, Things To Come, Discourse for Orchestra

Arthur Bliss:
Miracle In The Gorbals, Things To Come, Discourse

Christopher Lyndon-Gee
  Queensland Symphony Orchestra



1.  Miracle in the Gorbals, F 6
2.  Discourse, F 113
3. Things to Come, F 131: Suite


Arthur Bliss was the rare composer who could shift easily within a wide variety of genres from serious concert works to the occasional film score, yet succeeded in writing riveting music in all venue's. Although Bliss was English there is little sense of the pastoral tradition in his music.
'Discourse for Orchestra,' an explosive, vibrant work of grave seriousness that distantly recalls Hindemith, receives an exciting first recording under the baton of Christopher Lyndon-Gee. 'Miracle in the Gorbals' is a sublime ballet score from 1944. A cyclic morality play with an allegorical scenario about Christ and the events related to his Passion, this score has a theatrical vitality not unlike Bliss's film music. Perhaps the outstanding segment is 'The Street' because of its blowzy brass and playful glockenspiel that effectively captures the sense of a bustling city. Bliss's score for the 1936 classic film THINGS TO COME shines in a manner redolent of Chausson and Elgar. Most memorable in this suite is the marching string section in "The Building of the New World" as well as the powerful brass in "Attack of the Moon Gun," both of which are effectively handled with dramatic flair in this recording.