Arthur Bliss thought Bliss's music competent but unremarkable. In 1961, Bliss and Hassall collaborated on a cantata, "The Beatitudes", commissioned for the opening of the new Coventry Cathedral. Reviews were friendly, but the work has rarely been performed since, and has been eclipsed by another choral work written for Coventry at the same time, Britten's "War Requiem". Bliss followed this with two further large-scale choral works, "Mary of Magdala" (1962) and "The Golden Cantata" (1963). Throughout his life, Bliss was vigilant on the state of music in Britain, about which he had written extensively since the 1920s. In 1969 he publicly censured
Drapers' Hall, Coventry building would be converted into a music centre. The building is built in Greek Revival style and was designed by Thomas Rickman and H. Hutchinson. The building has been opened to the public under the auspices of the Heritage Open Days scheme. Drapers' Hall, Coventry Drapers' Hall is a historic building (Grade II* listed) in the Cathedral Quarter of Coventry built in 1832 by the Drapers' Company, a large trading guild in Coventry. The present building is believed to the third guildhall on the site. Drapers' Hall was constructed 1831-32 to be the headquarters of the Coventry Drapers' Guild, and