Bliss: A Colour Symphony

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Like Bliss in his own recently reissued 1956 recording...David Lloyd-Jones readily embraces the ambitious vigour and implied scale of the music. Both recording and sleeve notes are clean, clear... — Classic CD More…

Catalogue No: 8553460
Label: Naxos
Length: 74 minutes

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Bliss: A Colour Symphony

Work length32:04

$8.00

$10.35

English Northern Philharmonia
David Lloyd-Jones
Recorded: 26-27 June 1995
Recording Venue: Leeds Town Hall, Leeds, England

Purple: Andante maestoso

Track length6:23

$1.00

$1.30

Red: Allegro vivace

Track length7:01

$2.00

$2.60

Blue: Gently Flowing

Track length10:10

$3.00

$3.85

Green: Moderato

Track length8:30

$2.00

$2.60

Bliss: Adam Zero

Work length42:03

$17.00

$22.10

English Northern Philharmonia
David Lloyd-Jones
Recorded: 26-27 June 1995
Recording Venue: Leeds Town Hall, Leeds, England

Fanfare Overture

Track length1:44

$1.00

$1.30

The Stage

Track length2:04

$1.00

$1.30

Birth of Adam

Track length1:50

$1.00

$1.30

Adam's Fates

Track length1:29

$1.00

$1.30

Dance of Spring

Track length2:34

$1.00

$1.30

Love Dance (Awakening of Love)

Track length3:17

$1.00

$1.30

Bridal Ceremony

Track length1:58

$1.00

$1.30

Adam Achieves Power

Track length2:38

$1.00

$1.30

Re-entry of Adam's Fates

Track length1:14

$1.00

$1.30

Dance of Summer

Track length3:22

$1.00

$1.30

Approach of Autumn

Track length3:34

$1.00

$1.30

Night Club Scene

Track length3:53

$1.00

$1.30

Destruction of Adam's World

Track length2:51

$1.00

$1.30

Approach of Winter

Track length2:51

$1.00

$1.30

Dance with Death

Track length4:20

$1.00

$1.30

Finale: The Stage is Set Again

Track length1:51

$1.00

$1.30

Fanfare Coda

Track length0:33

$1.00

$1.30

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Classic CD

Like Bliss in his own recently reissued 1956 recording...David Lloyd-Jones readily embraces the ambitious vigour and implied scale of the music. Both recording and sleeve notes are clean, clear and well-judged. Alert confident performances provide useful introduction and excellent value.

2010

David Lloyd-Jones's exciting and idiomatic account of A Colour Symphony proves more than a match for all current competition, including the composer's own 1955 recording so spectacularly transferred by Dutton Laboratories.
Speeds are judged to perfection – nicely flowing for the first and third movements, not too hectic for the flashing Scherzo – and countless details in Bliss's stunning orchestral canvas are deftly attended to. Phrasing is sensitive and affectionate, solo work is consistently excellent (the slow movement's delicate woodwind arabesques are exquisitely voiced), and tuttis open out superbly in a technically fine recording from Naxos (magnificently keen-voiced horns throughout).
Whereas A Colour Symphony was inspired by the heraldic associations of four different colours (one for each movement), the theme of Adam Zero is the inexorable life-cycle of humankind. In its entirety, this 1946 ballet score does admittedly have its occasional longueurs, but for the most part Bliss's invention is of high quality. Certainly, the vivid exuberance and theatrical swagger of numbers like 'Dance of Spring' and 'Dance of Summer' have strong appeal. Equally, the limpid beauty of both the 'Love Dance' and the hieratic 'Bridal Ceremony' which immediately ensues isn't easily banished, while the darkly insistent 'Dance with Death' distils a gentle poignancy which is most haunting.

David Lloyd-Jones's exciting and idiomatic account of A Colour Symphony with the English Northern Philharmonia proves easily more than a match for all current competition... Terrific value for money, then, and a generous pairing which should hopefully win many new friends for this fine composer.

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