Music and Vinyl: Bliss - Meditations on a Theme of John Blow

One of Sir Arthur Bliss's most substantial orchestral works, the Meditations on a Theme by John Blow date from 1955, when he was 64. In a record review for the Guardian, critic Andrew Clements wrote of this piece: "the Meditations on a Theme of John Blow is Bliss's most considerable orchestral work, and arguably his greatest achievement. Its tone is both pastoral and elegiac, and a double memorial to those, including Bliss's own brother, who died in the first world war, and to the composer John Blow, who was one of Bliss's predecessors as Master of the Queen's (or King's) Music. Bliss bases the piece on Blow's setting of Psalm 23, not so much as a set of variations but as a series of commentaries, some untroubled and pastoral, others dark and threatening."

The Variations are described in the album sleeve notes (click the scan below to read).

Unlike most sets of variations - where the theme is stated at the outset - Bliss waits until near the end to reveal the stately theme written by English baroque composer John Blow (1649-1708). By the time we hear the big tune it seems like an old friend as so many aspects of it have already been explored. Where many pieces would have ended with the triumphant theme Bliss ends the work on a more subdued note as befits the memorial aspects of the composition.