British composer Sir Arthur Bliss was in his eighties when he wrote Metamorphic Variations, a work commissioned by the Croyden Arts Festival. According to Lady Bliss, the composer's wife, he had seen a series of paintings by George Dannatt that inspired the notion of a set of variations. The piece is a large scale orchestral work made up of fourteen sections. Premiered in 1973, Bliss displays great flexibility, imagination, and skilled writing for the various instruments of the orchestra. While there is some dissonance, Bliss' harmonic language is tonal. Three basic motivic entities are presented in the first section simply titled "Elements": a beautifully lyrical oboe solo, chorale-like fragment in the horns, and a tone cluster first heard in the woodwinds and horns. This material becomes the basis for the "metamorphic" transformations that take place in each of the following thirteen sections. The interval of an octave (a span of eight notes) derived from the opening oboe solo also figures in very significantly. "Ballet" is a confidently edgy waltz with a bit of irony. "Assertion" is almost militaristic with the side drum playing a prominent role amid the angular dotted rhythms, bringing Paul Hindemith (1895-1963) or Sergey Prokofiev (1891-1953) to mind. "Speculation" has the tentativeness that the title implies, with woodwind trills creating an otherworldly atmosphere. "Interjections" begins with the trumpet playing the first oboe theme and continues with solo utterances by various instruments, sometimes in the form of quasi cadenzas (rhythmically free solo passages). "Scherzo 1" contains a hint of counterpoint (independent lines played simultaneously such as a fugue) beginning with the violins. This quick, energetic material is interrupted by a contrasting slow section featuring various wind instruments accompanied by the harp. The scherzo tempo returns with a vengeance and builds to a powerful climax highlighted by the brass, only to evaporate into the aptly named "Contemplation." The octave motif dominates this impressionistic and introspective movement. The "Polonaise" is indeed true to its name: a stately dance of Polish origin in triple meter. Just to add some extra color and confuse its ethnic identity, Bliss throws in some castanets. "Funeral Processions" has the broad, relentless feeling of overwhelming grief as well as controlled anger, as the brass bring great majesty and dignity to the music. "Cool Interlude" provides perfect contrast with its chamber-like atmosphere in its scoring for violin, viola, cello, woodwinds, and celesta. "Scherzo II" starts as a perky dialogue between brass and strings based on the second element, leading to a massive major chord that transforms into a Larghetto section using third element material. "Duet" features freely conceived, almost improvisatory sounding solos between violin and cello over slow pizzicato strings, harp, and celesta.

"Dedication" is a tribute to Bliss' friends the above-mentioned George and Ann Dannatt. It is a brass fanfare based on their initials starting in the trumpets, answered in canon by the horns and the remainder of the brass section. The final section, "Affirmation," brings back all three elements in dramatic fashion ending where it began with the solitary oboe.

© Mona DeQuis, All Music Guide