Morning Heroes
musical work; choral symphony composed by Arthur Bliss
Morning Heroes is a choral symphony by the English composer Arthur Bliss. The work received its first performance at the Norwich Festival on 22 October 1930, with Basil Maine as the speaker/orator. Written in the aftermath of World War I, in which Bliss had performed military service, Bliss inscribed the dedication as follows: "To the Memory of my brother Francis Kennard Bliss and all other Comrades killed in battle."
The work sets various poems:
Homer, The Iliad, passages from Book VI (translation of W Leaf) and Book XIX (translation of Chapman)
Walt Whitman, "Drum Taps"
Wilfred Owen, "Spring Offensive"
Li Tai Po
Robert Nichols, "Dawn on the Somme"
The extracts are spoken by a narrator and sung by a large choir. Juxtaposing the harsh images of trench warfare with the epic heroes of Ancient Greece, the parallels Bliss draws are essentially romantic, and the work as a whole has been criticised as being rather complacent. Bliss himself said that he suffered from a repeating nightmare about his war experiences and that the composition of Morning Heroes helped to exorcise this.
Movements
The work falls into five sections, in the structure of a palindrome, with the first movement acting as a prologue, then fast, slow, and fast movements, and the final movement acting as an epilogue. The work includes the respective texts.:
Recordings
SOMM: Donald Douglas, speaker; BBC Chorus; BBC Choral Society; Alexandra Choir; Croydon Philharmonic Society; BBC Symphony Orchestra; Sir Arthur Bliss, conductor; live recording, BBC Proms, Royal Albert Hall, London, 16 August 1968.
EMI Classics: John Westbrook, speaker; Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir; Sir Charles Groves, conductor; studio recording, 23 & 24 July 1974, Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool.
BBC Radio Classics: Richard Baker, speaker; BBC Symphony Chorus; BBC Symphony Orchestra; Sir Charles Groves, conductor; BBC Invitation Concert, Maida Vale Studios, London, 29 March 1985.
Cala: Brian Blessed, speaker; East London Chorus, Harlow Chorus, East Hertfordshire Chorus; London Philharmonic Orchestra; Michael Kibblewhite, conductor; studio recording, All Hallows Church, Gospel Oak, London, 16-17 November 1991 & 26 January 1992.
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