Few among living English composers are watched with greater interest than Arthur Bliss and few compare with him in versatility. In the romantic conception of the ‘nineties the creative artist was a man apart, not expected to take much interest in the work of his contemporaries and still less in the world at large. During times of rapid change, this conception is gradually being dropped in favour of a more life-like figure, and the younger composer of to-day is expected to have at least a working knowledge of his fellow practitioners and of events in other fields of art and life.