Morning Heroes

Morning Heroes
by Arthur Bliss
Genre	Choral symphony
Text	Homer, Walt Whitman, Wilfred Owen, Li Tai Po, Robert Nichols
Language	English
Dedication	To the memory of Francis Kennard Bliss and all other comrades killed in battle

Morning Heroes is a choral symphony by the English composer Arthur Bliss. The work received its first performance at the Norwich Festival on 22 October 1930, with Basil Maine as the speaker/orator. ^[1] Written in the aftermath of World War I, in which Bliss had performed military service, ^[2] Bliss inscribed the dedication as follows:

"To the Memory of my brother Francis Kennard Bliss and all other Comrades killed in battle"

The work sets various poems: ^{[3] [4]}

• Homer, The Iliad , passages from Book VI (translation of W Leaf) and Book XIX (translation of Chapman)
• Walt Whitman, "Drum Taps"
• Wilfred Owen, "Spring Offensive"
• Li Tai Po
• Robert Nichols, "Dawn on the Somme"

The extracts are spoken by a narrator and sung by a large choir. Juxtaposing the harsh images of trench warfare with the epic heroes of Ancient Greece, the parallels Bliss draws are essentially romantic, and the work as a whole has been criticised as being rather complacent. ^[5] Bliss himself said that he suffered from a repeating nightmare about his war experiences and that the composition of Morning Heroes helped to exorcise this. ^{[6] [7]}

Movements

The work falls into five sections, in the structure of a palindrome, with the first movement acting as a prologue, then fast, slow, and fast movements, and the final movement acting as an epilogue. ^[6] The work includes the respective texts.: ^[4]

• I: "Hector's Farewell to Andromache"
• II: "The City Arming"
• III: "Vigil" - "The Bivouac's Flame"
• IV: "Achilles goes to battle" - "The Heroes"
• V: "Now, Trumpeter, For Thy Close" - "Spring Offensive" - "Dawn on the Somme"

Recordings

• Chandos: Samuel West, narrator; BBC Symphony; BBC Symphony Chorus; Sir Andrew Davis, conductor.
• EMI Classics: John Westbrook, speaker; Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir; Sir Charles Groves, conductor
• BBC Radio Classics: Richard Baker, speaker; BBC Symphony Chorus; BBC Symphony Orchestra; Sir Charles Groves, conductor ^[8]
• Cala: Brian Blessed, speaker; East London Chorus, Harlow Chorus, East Hertfordshire Chorus; London Philharmonic Orchestra; Michael Kibblewhite, conductor

References

1. F.B. (1 December 1930). "The Norwich Festival". The Musical Times. 71 (1054). The Musical Times, Vol. 71, No. 1054: 1081–1082. doi:10.2307/914304. JSTOR   914304.
2. Burn, Andrew (August 1991). "Rebel to Romantic: The Music of Arthur Bliss". The Musical Times. 132 (1782). The Musical Times, Vol. 132, No. 1782: 383–386. doi:10.2307/965884. JSTOR   965884.
3. Butcher, A.V. (April 1947). "Walt Whitman and the English Composer". Music & Letters. 28 (2): 154–167. doi:10.1093/ml/XXVIII.2.154. JSTOR   855527.
4. H.G. (1 October 1930). "Morning Heroes: A New Symphony by Arthur Bliss". The Musical Times. 71 (1052). The Musical Times, Vol. 71, No. 1052: 881–886. doi:10.2307/916872. JSTOR   916872.
5. Penguin Guide to Classical Music
6. Burn, Andrew (October 1985). "'Now, Trumpeter for Thy Close': The Symphony Morning Heroes: Bliss's Requiem for His Brother". The Musical Times. 126 (1713). The Musical Times, Vol. 126, No. 1713: 666–668. doi:10.2307/965037. JSTOR   965037.
7. Palmer, Christopher (August 1971). "Aspects of Bliss". The Musical Times. 112 (1542). The Musical Times, Vol. 112, No. 1542: 743–745. doi:10.2307/954592. JSTOR   954592.
8. A studio recording made in commemoration of the tenth anniversary of the composer's death. See the BBC Radio Classics 15656 9199-2 CD booklet note by John Mayhew, page 3: "This recording was made more than ten years after the commercial record made in Liverpool by Sir Charles Groves, at a BBC Invitation Concert in Studio One at Maida Vale in March 1985."