William Walton
Occupying an important historical position between his better-known colleagues Ralph Vaughan Williams and Benjamin Britten, William Walton is seen by many as the first modern British composer to approach the brilliance and vitality which characterized English music during Handel's day.
Born in northwest England during the first years of the twentieth century, Walton was the son of a choirmaster, and appropriately, served as a chorister at Christ Church Cathedral at Oxford from 1912 to 1918. Studies at the university itself proved unsatisfying, and William left Oxford without a degree in 1920, relying instead upon the patronage of the Sitwell family, who had befriended the young composer. Through the influence of this affluent and well-known family, Walton was able to break into the London music scene, and by 1922 his chamber piece Façade had achieved some popularity with the concert-going public. A performance of his comic overture Portsmouth Point in Zurich in 1926, and Paul Hindemith's championing of his Viola Concerto in 1929 helped introduce Walton music into the European music scene. The famous Belshazzar's Feast for chorus and orchestra soon followed, and the 1930s brought with commissions from well-known musical figures, including Jascha Heifetz, who asked the composer to write him a Violin Concerto in 1939.
Walton spent much of World War II composing music for films, including Next of Kin and The Foreman Went to France. In 1948, he moved to Ischia, a small island off of Naples, and he was knighted in 1951. In 1954, after many years of effort, his grand opera Troilus and Cressida was produced at Covent Garden; unfortunately, the work has not received the attention it deserves. Walton composed prolifically until the end of his life, fulfilling commissions for such notables as George Szell, Gregor Piatigorsky and Mstislav Rostropovich. In 1973, he conducted a fiftieth anniversary performance of Facade. While never again achieving the degree of public and critical acclaim which he enjoyed before the World War II, he was nevertheless able to live comfortably on Ischia, where he died in 1983.
Although he was overshadowed in the latter half of his career by Benjamin Britten, Walton was never the old-fashioned reactionary (a frequent, but unjust, accusation). Much like his contemporaries Poulenc and Prokofiev, Walton was at heart an expressive, lyric composer who refused to subjugate this natural ability to the "modernist" tendencies that the press berated him for not embracing. His music is a sparkling synthesis of old and new, the greatest examples of which can be found in the two Symphonies (1935 and 1960), and the Viola (1929), Violin (1939) and Cello (1956) Concertos.
© TiVo
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Discography
16 album(s) • Sorted by Bestseller
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Walton Conducts Walton
London Philharmonic Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, Peter Katin, William Walton
Classical - Released by Lyrita on Oct 1, 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Walton: Henry V - Scenes from the film, and other film music
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on Mar 3, 2003
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Tribute to William Primrose [Mozart, Berlioz, Bartók, Walton]
William Primrose, Jascha Heifetz, Izler Solomon, Charles Munch, Tibor Serly, William Walton
Classical - Released by Praga Digitals on Dec 1, 2015
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Walton conducts Walton : Symphonie 1, Concertos...
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on Aug 31, 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Walton: Facade; Stravinsky: The Soldier's Tale
Classical - Released by Universal Music Australia Pty. Ltd. on Apr 9, 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Conductor's Gallery, Vol. 1: Anthony Bernard, Sir William Walton
Anthony Bernard, William Walton
Classical - Released by Universal Music Australia Pty. Ltd. on Aug 25, 2023
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Walton conducts Walton
Classical - Released by Heritage Records on Jan 1, 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Sir William Walton: Belshazzar’s Feast 31st July, 1957
Classical - Released by The Digital Gramophone on Aug 18, 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Philharmonia 75 Sir William Walton
Classical - Released by Editions Audiovisuel Beulah on Mar 27, 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Walton: Scenes from Troilus and Cressida
Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Richard Lewis, Philharmonia Orchestra, William Walton
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on Jan 1, 1955
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Cinema Classics: The Gadfly & Henry V
Emin Khachaturian, Sir Laurence Olivier, William Walton
Classical - Released by Editions Audiovisuel Beulah on Dec 27, 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Walton, Troilus and Cressida First Performance (Live)
William Walton, Royal Opera House Chorus, Covent Garden, Charles Taylor, Sir Malcolm Sargent
Vocal Music (Secular and Sacred) - Released by mpLive on Jan 1, 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Conductor's Gallery, Vol. 1: Anthony Bernard, Sir William Walton
Anthony Bernard, William Walton
Classical - Released by Universal Music Australia Pty. Ltd. on Aug 25, 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Sir William Walton: Belshazzar’s Feast (Cantata)
Raimund Herincx, Sir Osbert Sitwell
Classical - Released by The Digital Gramophone on Aug 13, 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Sir William Walton: Symphony No. 2, First Performance - Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra Conducted by John Pritchard
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra
Classical - Released by The Digital Gramophone on Dec 20, 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -