Bliss / Elgar / Williamson: Masters Of The Monarchs’ Music – Bell

   in Choir & Organ (Jul, 2013)
It is good to see a revival of Bliss’s music, and as there are no original works for organ we have Robert Gower to thank for some well-crafted transcriptions. The Bliss and Elgar pieces, performed with suitable Edwardian understatement, sit slightly uncomfortably alongside the main work here: a 40-minute organ symphony from Malcolm Williamson. The Symphony is very academically conceived, owing more to Messiaen or Stravinsky than to British Edwardiana, so this makes for a slightly odd musical partnership. Though it is not necessarily a work of beauty, Bell again lends it a dignity which is enhanced by the grandeur of the Durham Cathedral organ. …