Talk:Arthur Bliss

Bliss, Monteux and Boston
Although the text in Early Compositions (para 5) reads: 'He received two major commissions from American orchestras, the Introduction and Allegro (1926) for the Philadelphia Orchestra and Leopold Stokowski and Hymn to Apollo (1926) for the Boston Symphony and Pierre Monteux.[1]', Andrew Burn's note for a recording of the original version on Chandos states: 'In a BBC broadcast of 1965, shortly before conducting the first performance of his 'new' version of Hymn to Apollo, Bliss referred to the work as having originally been a 'thank you' to Pierre Monteux for introducing his A Colour Symphony to audiences in New York and Boston. He had composed it in 1926, Monteux duly conducting its premiere, with the Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam on 28 November 1926, and its first UK performance, with the Queen's Hall Orchestra in London, on 27 January the following year.' Possibly the sponsors were happy to come third after Amsterdam and London?? Cg2p0B0u8m (talk) 17:59, 28 December 2021 (UTC)


 * The source (ODNB) says, "The two works he composed next had American links, since the Introduction and Allegro (1926) and Hymn to Apollo (1926) were conceived specifically for the Philadelphia and Boston orchestras and for their respective conductors Leopold Stokowski and Pierre Monteux." I took that to mean those two orchestras commissioned them but the source doesn't specifically say so. Similarly, Stewart R. Craggs in his "Bio-bibliography" of Bliss (1988) writes that "both the next two important works were written with the precision and vitality of the great American orchestras in his mind", but does not mention who commissioned them: "Introduction and Allegro, 1926, is dedicated to Leopold Stokowski and the Philadelphia Orchestra, who gave the first performance of it in America. Pierre Monteux, who had already performed A Colour Symphony in Boston, gave the first performance of Hymn to Apollo with the Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam." I think that perhaps without excessively close paraphrase we might reword on the lines of the ODNB article, to change "He received two major commissions from American orchestras" to "He wrote two major works with American orchestras in mind".  Tim riley  talk   18:51, 28 December 2021 (UTC)


 * Yes, that seems perfect.Cg2p0B0u8m (talk) 19:16, 28 December 2021 (UTC)
 * Done.  Tim riley  talk   20:17, 28 December 2021 (UTC)
 * On further reflection (...sorry my brain's a bit slow) Monteux could not have conducted this work's premiere in Boston, as we know he never conducted there during Koussevitsky's 1924-49 tenure... Cg2p0B0u8m (talk) 12:22, 30 December 2021 (UTC)
 * Tu ai raison, mon Général. Mildly surprised to meet you in such a very British article, but a pleasure as always. I too ought to have spotted the date and the prevailing Bostonian régime. That's one of Wikipedia's good points: errors can be corrected as soon as spotted, and thank you for spotting mine here.  Tim riley  talk   19:04, 30 December 2021 (UTC)
 * I do like his music very much... the chamber musics, ballets and so on, although the violin and piano concertos are a bit heavy. But one can't listen to Poulenc all day, so...Cg2p0B0u8m (talk) 20:20, 2 January 2022 (UTC)