Sir William Turner Walton was born Main Lancashire, England, and died Main Ischia, Italy. Roberto Diaz performs the Walton Viola Concerto with Artosphere Festival Orchestra. The Walton Trust was set up, inspired by his wife, Susana, to foster interest and education in British classical music, and held summer masterclasses in Ischia, Italy, where Walton lived the last thirty years of his life. Walton never held teaching posts nor had students he also didn’t write about his work or career. When Princess Elizabeth ascended the throne, he was commissioned to write a coronation march, entitled “Orb and Sceptre”, as well as a choral setting of a standard hymn, “Te Deum”, for the occasion. However, his music was noticed by the higher-ups, and he received a knighthood. Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for William Walton: A Centenary Celebration (CD, Mar-2002, Chandos) at the best online prices at eBay. Walton was a slow and steady worker, not turning out one work after another. After critical and audience acclaim, Lionel Tertis had a change of heart and started performing the work. Paul Hindemith, famed violist and composer, stepped in for the world premiere and it was a hit. Tertis turned the manuscript down at first sight. Conductor Sir Thomas Beecham suggested it as a vehicle for viola virtuoso Lionel Tertis. Walton’s Concerto, however, drew attention in the British classical music world. You rarely hear of concertos written for viola as the instrument suffers the “overlooked middle child syndrome”: it doesn’t project as brightly as the violin nor as deeply as the cello against an orchestra backdrop.

William Walton was a 20th century English composer who, it terms of importance as an English composer, took the reins from Edward Elgar, before passing them on to Benjamin Britten.Ī significant work of Walton’s was his Viola Concerto, written in 1929.

William walton viola concerto