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Morning Heroes: a tribute to the fallen
At this time of year especially, our thoughts turn to all those who have lost their lives in conflict. This short blog looks at Sir Arthur Bliss’s choral symphony, Morning Heroes, written as a tribute...
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Concert programmes in the Bliss Archive
Over the last few months, I have been documenting the concert programmes in the Arthur Bliss Archive here at the University Library, and a diverting and engaging time I have had of it. It sounds such...
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The Bliss violin concerto: from composition to performance
“It was time that Sir Arthur Bliss wrote such a work, for bravura and cantilena are much in his line; and it is 16 years since he gave us a concerto” So wrote the music critic of The Times who …...
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To celebrate, to commemorate: Benjamin Britten (1913 – 1976)
It cannot have escaped your notice that this year we celebrate the centenary of the birth of one of Britain’s greatest composers: Benjamin Britten. Best known for works such as Peter Grimes, the Young...
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Ballets and bagpipes and audible birth?
What do lost ballets, trans-medial machines, sonic aspects of childbirth and an Argyll piper have in common? Answer: They all feature in current PhD research topics at the Faculty of Music, University...
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Arthur Bliss 125
August 2nd 2016 is the 125th anniversary of the birth of Sir Arthur Bliss. At the University Library, we are celebrating this with a music corridor exhibition (opening first week of August 2016)...
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Arthur Bliss 125: WWI and The Somme
As part of the University Library’s exhibition celebrating the 125th anniversary of Sir Arthur Bliss’s birth, and as a tribute to those whose lives were lost during the Battle of the Somme in 1916, we...
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Curious music objects
On the occasion of Cambridge University Library’s 600th anniversary exhibition on curious objects, I would like to introduce you to some of the music objects in our collections. As objects they may...
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Darts, ruins, and a cimbalom
Very occasionally being a music librarian can take you to the most unexpected places. I’ve recently returned from a trip to Basel prompted by a production of a new ballet, Robin Hood, choreographed by...
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A gift from Lehigh. Part I.
Kate mentioned at the end of her tribute to Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, last week, that we had a copy of the album – a gift from Lehigh University Concert Band. The record (an American...
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A gift from Lehigh. Part II.
Last week I explained how Sir Arthur Bliss came to compose a fanfare for an American college football team, Lehigh University, who were desperate to defeat their old rivals, Lafayette. Jonathan Elkus,...
View ArticleBrothers in arms
As I mentioned in last week’s MusiCB3 post this week we’re going to be looking at a very personal experience of war; that experienced by Sir Arthur Bliss and his family. Bliss was just about to have...
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