Arthur Bliss: March of Homage in Honour of a Great Man (1965)

Like many millions of other viewers, I watched Sir Winston Churchill’s State Funeral on BBC Television. Even as a ten-year-old I found it both impressive and moving. For me, as a budding train spotter, the most memorable moment was the loading of the coffin onto the special train at Waterloo Station. The locomotive was Southern Railway Battle of Britain Class 34051, “Winston Churchill.” As my family were watching on T.V., we would not have heard the music played just prior to the funeral commencing. Arthur Bliss’s March of Homage in Honour of a Great Man was first broadcast on the BBC Third Programme. 

Dutton Epoch have recently issued a superb CD of Bliss’s music. This includes a splendid recording of the complete ballet score of The Lady of Shalott, the wordless Rout for soprano and orchestra, and some smaller pieces. The final track presents the March of Homage in Honour of a Great Man.

What is not explained in Lewis Foreman’s excellent liner notes (CDLX7387) is that the piece was written in 1961-62 in London (Craggs, 1996, p.120), and not in immediate response to the death of the statesman.

An internal BBC memorandum (February 1962) from Sir Lindsay Wellington explains the work’s genesis: “Sir Arthur Bliss has told me that he has written a straightforward Funeral March for full symphony orchestra to be used as a tribute for the Master of the Queen’s Music to Sir Winston Churchill when he dies. He hopes that the BBC will arrange to record the work soon, keep the recording in cold storage, and then broadcast it in whatever obituary context seems best…”  The March was recorded at the BBC Maida Vale Studio 1 on 3 March 1962. The BBC Symphony Orchestra was conducted by the composer.

Three years later (22 January 1965) Hans Keller of the BBC wrote to the composer: “We have placed your “March of Homage in Honour of a Great Man” in the most prominent spot available, i.e. right before Churchill’s funeral, which we are relaying on Saturday 30 January, at 9.30am on the Third Network…”

The score originally carried the title “Funeral March for a State Occasion. This was scored out in the holograph, and the present title was added in red ink. There is no appended date, dedication or place of composition.

For the military band recording of the March Bliss wrote: “Like millions of others, I wanted to pay my own modest tribute to the memory of Winston Churchill. I could do this best on music, so I wrote this slow and solemn ceremonial march in homage to this great man. Originally conceived on more spacious lines for a symphony orchestra, it is heard here in a military band version transcribed by W.J. Dutholt. (Arthur Bliss, Sleeve Notes, HMV 7EG 8899).

Lewis Foreman, (liner notes, CDLX7387) writes that this march “is very much an example of Bliss taking seriously his duty Master of the Queen’s Music.” He had been appointed to this role after the death of Arnold Bax in 1953. 

Musically, this is a Funeral March: there is no sense of pomp and circumstance. It has been compared to Handel’s Ode on the Death of Queen Caroline and Purcell’s Funeral Music for Queen Mary with its sense of loss. In the short space of less than five minutes, Bliss creates an “elegy of deep poignancy.” 

Andrew Burn (Sleeve Notes, DKP9006) notes “the insistent throb of drums, the grief laden falling arpeggios and the restrained emotion of the theme all evoke a solemnity which is heightened by the violin’s counterpoint in the reprise of the opening.”

Finally, W.A. Chislet (The Gramophone, April 1965, p.499) felt that the march “would have pleased the man in whose memory it was written.”

Other versions of the March have been made. These include W.J. Duthoit’s above-mentioned arrangement for military band (1965) and transcriptions for piano (1965) and organ (1965) by Felton Rapley.

Books Consulted:
Craggs, Stewart R., Arthur Bliss: A Bio-bibliography (Westport, Connecticut, Greenwood Press, 1988)
Craggs, Stewart R., Arthur Bliss: A Source Book (Aldershot, Scolar Press, 1996)
Foreman, Lewis, Arthur Bliss: Catalogue of the Complete Works (Sevenoaks, Novello, 1980; suppl. 1982)

Discography:
1. Bliss, Arthur, Central Band of the Royal Air Force/J.L. Wallace, HMV 7EG 8899 (1965)
2. Bliss, Arthur, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra/David Atherton, LP: Unicorn, DKP 9006, (1981); CD: Unicorn, UKCD 2029, (1990); Cassette: Unicorn, UK 2029, (1990)
3. Bliss, Arthur, Band of the Scots Guards/Maj. R.A. Owen, Specialist Recording Company, SRC 102, (2002)
4. Bliss, Arthur, BBC Concert Orchestra/Martin Yates, Dutton Epoch CDLX 7387 (2021).