Arthur Bliss

Things To Come, Concert Suite

For a man who achieved so much in his own field, Bliss's wide-ranging, undogmatic appetite for the whole arts scene was extraordinary. While he had a profound knowledge and understanding of American and European writing, dance, graphics, poetry, sculpture, painting and design, both contemporary and classical, for theatre he had a special sympathy and rapport. Its qualities of timing, drama, economy and pace are everywhere to be found in his work, with his own flair for colour and the understanding that theatre is a means and medium of expression, not the message itself, that gesture, like logic, is a tool, not a truth. What gives his music durability is the appreciation of classical values - proportion, design, restraint, integrity and growth. Nowhere will you find a better demonstration than Things to Come of this synthesis of vision, intellect, technique and panache.