Morning Heroes (1930)

Morning Heroes received its first performance at the Norwich Festival on 22 October 1930, with Basil Maine as the narrator. Written in the aftermath of World War I, in which Bliss had performed military service, the composer inscribed the dedication as follows:

"To the Memory of my brother Francis Kennard Bliss and all other Comrades killed in battle"

The work sets various poems:

Homer: The Iliad, passages from Book VI (translation of W Leaf) and Book XIX (translation of Chapman)
Walt Whitman: "Drum Taps"
Wilfred Owen: "Spring Offensive"
Li Tai-Po
Robert Nichols: "Dawn on the Somme"

The extracts are spoken by a narrator and sung by a large choir. Juxtaposing the harsh images of trench warfare with the epic heroes of Ancient Greece.