Bliss, Sir Arthur

Bliss, Sir Arthur, 1891–1975, English composer. Bliss's teachers included Charles Stanford, Ralph Vaughan Williams, and Gustav Holst. He was made Master of the Queen's Musick in 1953. His early works, including pieces for wordless voices, were considered avant-garde. Bliss's works include ballets, cantatas, operas such as The Olympians (1949) and Tobias and the Angel (1958), the Colour Symphony (1932), a piano concerto (1938), quintets for oboe (1927) and clarinet (1931) with strings, and a concertina for cello and orchestra (1969). His autobiography was published in 1970.

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Bliss, Sir Arthur (Edward Drummond)

(born Aug. 2, 1891, London, Eng.—died March 27, 1975, London) British composer. He studied with Ralph Vaughan Williams and Gustav Holst. Though he was compositionally adventurous at first, he later adopted a conservative, Romantic style. His works include A Colour Symphony (1922), Pastoral (1928), the choral symphony Morning Heroes (1930), Music for Strings (1936), and the ballets Checkmate (1937) and Miracle in the Gorbals (1944).