Bliss
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English Music For Strings
RecommendedBritten, Bliss, Bridge, Berkeley
Sinfonia of London, John Wilson
Here in [the Bridge Lament] is a prime example of the heartfelt precision and beauty of tone that typifies John Wilson’s Sinfonia of London. There’s plenty of heart, too, in their superlative... —
Awards:
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Gramophone Magazine, July 2026, Critics' Choice 2021
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Gramophone Magazine, February 2021, Editor's Choice
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Presto Recording of the Week, 29th January 2021
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Gramophone Awards, 2021, Shortlisted - Orchestral
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Winner 2021
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Sunday Times, 10 Best Classical Albums of 2021
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Special offer. Bliss: Morning Heroes & Hymn to Apollo
RecommendedSamuel West (orator)
BBC Symphony Orchestra, BBC Symphony Chorus, Sir Andrew Davis
Sir Andrew Davis's performance with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus surpasses Sir Charles Groves's fine 1974 EMI Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra account with urgent tempos, choral... —
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Presto Recording of the Week, 25th September 2015
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2015
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Gramophone Awards, 2016, Finalist - Choral
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Special offer. Bliss: Mary of Magdala, The Enchantress & Meditations of a Theme by John Blow
RecommendedDame Sarah Connolly (mezzo-soprano), James Platt (bass)
BBC Symphony Orchestra, BBC Symphony Chorus, Sir Andrew Davis
There is an immolatory vehemence to her [connolly’s] performance, securely buttressed by Davis and his BBC forces...Bliss adherents will need to add this to their roster of necessary discs. —
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Presto Recording of the Week, 8th November 2019
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2019
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Awards:
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Penguin Guide, Rosette
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What a joy to welcome on CD, a major British ballet score (comparable in appeal to Walton's Façade with which, happily, it's coupled). Constant Lambert's Horoscope is a highly individual score... —
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Penguin Guide, Rosette
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Special offer. Sir Arthur Bliss: The Composer Conducts
John Ogdon (piano), Cyril Smith, Phyllis Sellick, Donald Douglas, BBC Chorus and Choral Society, Alexandra Choir, Croydon Philharmonic Society, Bbc Symphony Orchestra, BBC Northern Orchestra, Sir Arthur Bliss
London Symphony Orchestra
Here’s a splendid tribute to Arthur Bliss (1891-1975) marking the 50th anniversary of his death. It also serves as a most welcome reminder of his considerable interpretative acumen on the podium. —
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Gramophone Magazine, August 2025, Reissue/Archive Issue of the Month
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Bliss: The Beatitudes, Introduction and Allegro & God save the Queen
RecommendedEmily Birsan (soprano), Ben Johnson (tenor)
BBC Symphony Orchestra, BBC Symphony Chorus, Sir Andrew Davis
There is no doubting Sir Andrew Davis’s grasp of The Beatitudes, and he steers a broadly authoritative performance, with incisive, committed playing from the BBC Symphony Orchestra…Davis’s punchy,... —
Awards:
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2018
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Special offer. Bliss: Checkmate & Mêlée Fantasque
Royal Scottish National Orchestra, David Lloyd-Jones
This is the only available version of the full ballet… almost all the music to the same high, full-blooded standard… The early Melée Fantasque is much more than a makeweight… Lloyd-Jones's... —
Awards:
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BBC Music Magazine, October 2005, Orchestral Choice
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Gramophone Magazine, October 2005, Editor's Choice
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Special offer. Bliss: Miracle in the Gorbals & Metamorphic Variations
RecommendedBBC Philharmonic, Michael Seal
Seal is strong on atmosphere, distilling an unmistakable air of lurking menace in the shadowy Overture, where the dockside tenements of the Gorbals area in Glasgow are depicted. —
Awards:
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2025
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Warm, confident interpretations from the Royal Holloway singers. —
