# Arthur Bliss - Piano Concerto in Bb Major



## Chat Noir (4 mo ago)

I had this on whilst I was polishing an old brass lamp and it made me set aside the lamp and closely follow the reduced score in the video. It's not often I feel moved to do that. An absolutely scintillating concerto full of novel turns and twists. Technically challenging for the pianist and beautifully orchestrated. The 16-minute opening movement is built around a rather small melodic fragment with a triplet figure which makes its way through the entire orchestra and influences the shape of the piano work. The adagietto is a fine example of Bliss's style: with modern touches stemming from his influence from the French avant-garde, heavy chromaticism, but routinely falling into neo-romantic-like passages. The tour-de-force final movement reaches a triumphant short coda on the horns before its grand finale.

This is perhaps one of the finest piano concertos of not only a British composer of the period, but of the period itself. It deserves more exposure and a higher reputation because it is a jewel in the repertoire.


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## Prodromides (Mar 18, 2012)

Did the old brass lamp ever get its polish completed?

Veddy cricket of you to hoist Sir Arthur's music from neglect. The Bliss piano concerto (1939), though, seems entirely Romantic to me ... I don't know which French avant-garde you refer to. This PC hails from the decades prior to Pierre Boulez territory and could be paired with an Alwyn PC as a companion for an album.

The CD that I have on this is the 1990 Unicorn-Kanchana disc - initially gold-colored but now blemished beyond help of any sort of polishing efforts. Originally recorded in 1980.

[perhaps you might be interested in this former thread: Favourite piano concertos
(maybe even contribute to it)]


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## Chat Noir (4 mo ago)

Bliss was originally an admirer of and influenced by _Les Six _(long before Boulez was anything anywhere).


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## Prodromides (Mar 18, 2012)

Chat Noir said:


> Bliss was originally an admirer of and influenced by _Les Six _(long before Boulez was anything anywhere).


I have no reason to doubt such ... it's just that when the term 'avant-garde' is used the first thing entering my mind is NOT _Les Six_.


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## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

I do think it's a romantic concerto having it myself in that series . Later I found this one









Stunning playing, alas 37 minutes on a cd


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## Chat Noir (4 mo ago)

Prodromides said:


> I have no reason to doubt such ... it's just that when the term 'avant-garde' is used the first thing entering my mind is NOT _Les Six_.


Why? They were obviously part of the French avant-garde around Erik Satie. What is influencing your view?


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