Bliss is a composer whose music I admire and respect. In the final analysis however I don't feel that he can be rated as a 'great composer' or that he is in quite the same league as Elgar, Vaughan Williams, Bax, Brian, Britten, Rubbra or even(although I am not sympathetic to his music myself) Delius. Nor do I personally find his music as thrilling or inspiring as-in their different ways-I respond to Simpson, Alwyn or Arnell.
Proficient, well-written, admirable in so many respects but I find with Bliss that there is just that last ounce of inspiration missing that transforms music for me and touches something that makes me 'really sit up and notice'. I fully appreciate that this is an entirely subjective assessment which others will disagree with

The Colour Symphony-which Guido finds boring-I like but often find leaves me feeling that however well constructed it is as an orchestral showpiece there is just that 'something' missing that would have left me feeling that Bliss had put more 'heart' into the music.
The Piano Concerto is a grand exercise in the romantic tradition of barnstorming piano concertos but again......
I think that the seldom heard Violin Concerto is ultimately a better work than that for piano and deserves more exposure.
Yes, the Music for Strings is a fine piece in the great tradition of British works for strings but it does not stand up so well for me than the Tallis Fantasia or Tippett's Concerto for Double String Orchestra, for example.
'Morning Heroes' is indeed, as Jeffrey has implied, a work in which Bliss does seem to have put more of himself, where one can hear real genuine commitment, heart, spirit, inspiration....call it what you will. And, as I have said before on this forum, I would like to hear other choral works by Bliss like the Cantata 'The Beatitudes'.
My own favourite Bliss piece is actually the 'Meditations on a theme by John Blow'-a work in which I feel that Bliss is responding to a stimulus and which therefore goes deeper and produces more of a response in the listener. The Metamorphic Variations are also worth hearing.
Sorry for rambling...and I know that others will not agree with what are purely personal opinions
