By Susanna Jones

Sir Andrew Davis, The Philharmonia and The Three Choirs Festival Chorus made a brilliant case on Monday night for the rarely performed work by Arthur Bliss, Morning Heroes.

Their performance of this piece, which is obviously close to the conductor's heart, gave a sense of total belief in Bliss's tribute to the dead of the first world war (particularly his own younger brother Francis Kennard Bliss, to whom it is dedicated), in which he explores what appear at first sight to be a puzzlingly diverse set of texts, from the Iliad to Wilfred Owen, spanning the narrative of violent conflict and its consequences. The opening, Hector's Farewell to Andromache, is a lengthy declamation with orchestral accompaniment, the heavy tread of which is full of foreboding in the manner of Bliss's later work, the well-known march from the film score, Things to Come. This sets the tone for the ensuing movements with chorus. Malcolm Sinclair stepped into the role of orator at short notice and gave an authoritative reading of this and the later, most effective, Now, Trumpeter, For Thy Close, in which the orator is accompanied by the initially distant thunder of rumbling timpani, which becomes the bloody reality of the enemy's guns. Coming immediately after the blazing glory of Hector, Like Man-Killing Mars, electrifyingly portrayed in this performance, this was deeply moving. Bliss was himself gassed at Cambrai and experienced the horror of the trenches at first hand. It is said that he exorcised his post-war night terrors by writing Morning Heroes. The quality of the chorus was outstanding throughout (the sopranos deserve a special accolade for their top notes) and showed an impressive mastery of this difficult work. They were supported by wonderfully intense and at times chilling playing by the Philharmonia.

Morning Heroes was preceded by a fine performance of Sibelius' 5th Symphony - a contrasting response to the aftermath of war. In this case the civil war in Finland which ended in 1917. If the finale of Morning Heroes suggests resignation and despair, the fifth sympnhy of Sibelius ends exultantly with the powerful theme for horns which is friend Axel Carpelan famously described as 'that swan hymn beyond compare'. Whether one subscribes to the ornithological imagery or note, the Philharmonia brass were tremendously effective. At the times, the warm acousitng of the cathedral seemed to soften Sibelius at the edges, perhaps a little too much, but this, his most popular and accessible symphony was rapturously received by a capacity audience.