The Arthur Bliss Society

President: Ian Venables Vice-President: Mark Bebbington Chairman: David Salter

The Arthur Bliss Society was founded in early 2003 with the aim of furthering the appreciation, understanding and knowledge of the music of Sir Arthur Bliss (1891-1975).  He was one of the most important figures in British musical life from the early 1920s (when he was regarded as an enfant terrible) through to his later years and his tenure of the office of Master of the Queen's Music from 1953, following Sir Arnold Bax, who had died suddenly in October of that year. The Committee benefited greatly from the support and encouragement of the late Lady Bliss, our first President, and then from the late George Dannatt.  For Gerald Towell's tribute to him, and links to press obituaries, see his page. David Wilby wrote an appreciation for MusicWeb. We were delighted when Peter Ainsworth  and Ian Venables accepted invitations to become Vice- Presidents of the Society.  Following George's death, Ian was invited to become our third President and Terry Barfoot agreed to follow Ian as a Vice-President.  Sadly Terry died on 12 August 2020 and Peter Ainsworth on 6 April 2021.  Mark Bebbington, who has long been a Patron and supporter of the Arthur Bliss Society, succeeds Terry as Vice-President. Patrons of the Society are musicians James Gilchrist, Julian Lloyd Webber, David Lloyd-Jones, Rebeca Omordia and Anna Lapwood, composer Philip Wilby and musicologist/composer Robert Matthew-Walker. A substantial Journal is published twice a year, in the Spring and Autumn.  A cumulative index is also available. Non-members wishing to buy copies of the Journal and/or the Index please contact the Chairman. The website of The Bliss Trust contains biography, bibliography and discography, and we complement this on the Society's site with active information about social and study events, current news and comment, details of membership, how to join and how to contact us.  Whilst the Bliss Trust website is still the place to go for the complete discography, we have listed new and recent discs on this site, as well as some new photographs.  We still appeal for any non-copyright photographs that we could show here, or copyrighted ones that we might be allowed to display. Our Concerts page is accessed by lovers of Sir Arthur's music worldwide, and we are as keen to include notices of performances abroad as we are those in the UK.  We know that far more performances take place in other countries than we show on our Concerts page and we look to our site visitors for information.  We have no other regular means of knowing about concerts before they take place. The Enquiries page gives the opportunity to site visitors, whether members of the Society or not, to contribute questions or comments. We devote a page to the Charlton Kings Choral Society because of its close links with the late Lady Bliss, initially through Gerald Towell.  Three of our Committee members belong to the choir, and a fourth, John Wright, is its Conductor. The Links page joins us to other interesting and relevant websites: please suggest any useful additions.  Please also let the webteam know of forthcoming performances of Bliss music, so that we can publicise them here. _____________________________ It’s worth searching for ‘Arthur Bliss’ on YouTube - there are hundreds of clips, including many that are hard to find elsewhere. Privacy and Cookies Policy All enquiries relating to copyright should be addressed to The Bliss Trust, whose details can be found on their website. Archive enquiries should be adressed to The Music Department, Cambridge University Library. The Bliss Archive can be accessed here.

updated on 20 September 2021 © The Arthur Bliss Society 2003-2021  

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For music on BBC SOUNDS and recent Web performances see the Broadcasts page

UP-COMING PERFORMANCE Bliss at 130 St. Andrew’s Church, Montpellier Street, Cheltenham, GL50 1SP on Saturday 2 October 2021 at 2.15 pm Daniel Bates (oboe), Katherine Spencer (clarinet), Eusebius Quartet Programme includes Oboe Quintet, Clarinet Quintet Introductory talk by Andrew Burn (Chairman of the Bliss Trust) ‘Music for Kicks’ in the BBC Music Magazine  (September issue, pp 34/5), Rumon Gamba recommends Attack on the Moon Gun from Bliss’s Things to Come Suite as ‘something to get the heart racing’