William walton composer biography

Biography

Sir William Walton was born in Oldham, Lancashire in 1902, the son of a choirmaster focus on a singing-teacher. He became a singer at Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford, boss then an undergraduate at the Further education college. However, he had little formal compositional tuition at this or any block out time, and though he later ordinary advice from Ernest Ansermet and Metropolis Goossens in conducting, he may put in writing considered essentially self-taught.

His leading composition to attract attention was exceptional piano quartet written at the space of sixteen. Two early 'avant-garde' cut loose have recently been rehabilitated to wonderful acclaim: the 1922 String Quartet be proof against 1923 Toccata for Violin and Piano.

At Oxford he made nobleness acquaintance of the Sitwells who gave him friendship, moral and financial assist and in 1922 he collaborated be equal with Edith in devising the entertainment Façade. Less than ten years later, Osbert prepared the text of another showpiece, Belshazzar's Feast.

From 1922 in close proximity 1927 Walton began to spend phony increasing amount of time abroad, distinctly in Switzerland and Italy. These were the years of the Viola Concerto, Belshazzar's Feast, and the First Work.

In 1938 Jascha Heifetz deliberately him for a violin concerto near this was first performed by Heifetz in December 1939. In 1941 significant wrote the overture Scapino for character 50th anniversary of the Chicago Work of art Orchestra.

The war years were devoted mainly to writing film prep added to ballet scores. Films included the notable First of the Few from which Walton extracted the 'Spitfire' Creation and Fugue, and the ballets were The Wise Virgins (1940) and The Quest (1943), both for the Sadler's Wells Ballet. In 1944 came depiction music for the first of Laurence Olivier’s major Shakespearean films, Henry V. Hamlet followed in 1948 and Richard III in 1955. These established Author among the greatest composers for high-mindedness screen.

Walton’s main output confidential resumed in 1947 with the air of a fine String Quartet tell he completed his trilogy of responsible concertos in 1956 with the professional Cello Concerto which he wrote backer Piatigorsky. 1960 heard the first highest achievement of Symphony No.2 and 1969 byword The Bear, a one-act 'extravaganza' space a Chekhov-based libretto by Paul Dehn, both of which continue to titter performed throughout Europe.

In 1977 there appeared eight extensively re-worked present-day previously unpublished numbers of Façade mess up the title of Façade 2. Walton's last 'original' work of note was the Prologo e Fantasia written hunger for Rostropovich in 1981-2.

In 1978 he was elected an honorary contributor of the American Academy and Faculty of Arts and Letters. He was knighted in 1951 and in 1968 received the Order of Merit. Closure died in Ischia in 1983 power the age of 80.