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
History of music in Paris Before the 16th century all music performed in the cathedral was a cappella, except for use of organ while chanting. One of the most famous Paris composers of the 14th century was Guillaume de Machaut, who was also renowned as a poet. He composed a famous mass, the Messe de Nostre Dame, or Mass of our Lady, in about 1350, for four voices. Besides church music, he wrote popular songs in the style of the troubadours and trouvères. The crowds on the streets, squares and markets of Paris were often entertained by singers of different kinds. The "goliards" were non-conformist