A Colour Symphony

A Colour Symphony, Op. 24, F. 106, was written by Arthur Bliss in 1921–22.^[1] It was his first major work for orchestra^[2] and remains one of his best known. Bliss wrote it under the supervision of his teacher, Ralph Vaughan Williams.^[3]

History

A Colour Symphony was written to be performed at the Three Choirs Festival, held in 1922 in Gloucester,^[4] at the invitation of Sir Edward Elgar, who also invited Herbert Howells and Eugene Goossens to write a piece each.^[5] Howells wrote Sine Nomine for wordless chorus,^[6] which was not given its second performance until his centenary year 70 years later, in 1992.^[7] Goossens wrote a piece called Silence for chorus and orchestra.^[6] Elgar's own contribution was his orchestration of Johann Sebastian Bach's Fantasia and Fugue in C minor.

Bliss decided to write a symphony, but was at first undecided what the theme or character of the work would be. He could not get started for some weeks. One day, by chance, he came across a book on heraldry in which he read of the symbolic meanings attached to certain colours; this gave him the notion of writing a work about colours. He attempted to give each movement a character corresponding to these meanings, but without attempting to depict the colours themselves.^[8] Bliss dedicated the symphony to the conductor Adrian Boult.^[2]

The first performance, with the London Symphony Orchestra, in Gloucester Cathedral on 7 September 1922, was conducted by the composer. It was not well received at first, due to poor preparation. The work uses a large orchestra, but the platform was so taken up with the chorus required for other works also being performed, that several instruments had to be omitted.^[3] Elgar attended, but found it "disconcertingly modern".^[2] It nevertheless entered the repertoire and has been recorded various times, although it is now an infrequent visitor to concert platforms.

Analysis

The four movements are:

• "Purple, the colour of Amethysts, Pageantry, Royalty and Death"
  • Andante maestoso: slow in pace and ceremonial in character

• "Red, the colour of Rubies, Wine, Revelry, Furnaces, Courage and Magic"
  • Allegro vivace: a glittering, spiky and percussive scherzo, reminiscent of Stravinsky.^[9] A theme from towards the end was used as the signature tune of the televised "Royal Institution Christmas Lectures".^[10]

• "Blue, the colour of Sapphires, Deep Water, Skies, Loyalty and Melancholy"
  • Gently flowing: slow, with chords used to depict the lapping of water against a moored boat or a pier

• "Green, the colour of Emeralds, Hope, Youth, Joy, Spring and Victory"
  • Moderato: a double fugue (which has been described as "Schoenbergian"^[11]) on violas, strings, clarinets and woodwinds, leading to a triumphant climax

Revision

In 1932, Bliss revised the codas of the first two movements.^[1] He conducted the revised work himself in a recording with the London Symphony Orchestra in 1955.^[12] Bliss made a stereo recording with the BBC Welsh Symphony Orchestra.

The last movement, "Green", was separately published as Pyonepsion.

Other uses

In 1977, a ballet called Royal Offering was created, with music based on A Colour Symphony.

A short extract from the 'Red' movement is used as the opening music to BBC TV coverage of The Proms.^[13]

The British artist Kevin Laycock created a visual piece called Four Movements in Colour, in which he attempted to portray, in colour, the sounds created by Arthur Bliss.^[14] In 2004, Laycock created a series of paintings called Tectonics as a direct response to Bliss's A Colour Symphony using parallel compositional structures.^[15]

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Randel, Don Michael (2003). The Harvard dictionary of music. Harvard University Press. p. 191. ISBN 9780674011632. 
2. ^ ^{a b c} Classical Archives
3. ^ ^{a b} Greene's Biographical Encyclopedia of Composers
4. ^ Bourne, Joyce; Michael Kennedy (2004). The concise Oxford dictionary of music. Oxford University Press US. p. 153. ISBN 9780198608844. 
5. ^ Bliss: Colour Symphony
6. ^ ^{a b} Music Web International: British Choral Music
7. ^ Romanticism in Retrospect
8. ^ The eMusic Dozen: British Composers
9. ^ Answers.com: A Colour Symphony
10. ^ Music Web International: Colour Symphony
11. ^ Music Web International: Bliss
12. ^ derkeiler.com
13. ^ BBC Proms 2010
14. ^ Four Movements in Colour: Recent Paintings by Kevin Laycock
15. ^ Uncertain Harmonies

Sources

• Arthur Bliss, liner notes to the recording by Anthony Collins and the London Symphony Orchestra

External Links

• Article on Color Symphony (Accessed 17 May 2011)