William Walton: A Catalogue (3^rd Ed.) Paperback

This revised, updated, and expanded edition of the definitive catalogue of works by Sir William Walton (1902-83) follows the completion of the William Walton Edition. A comprehensive source of musical and documentary information relevant to Walton's life and work, the catalogue features full details of composition dates, instrumentation, first performance, publication, the location of autograph manuscripts, critical comment, and significant recordings, as well as previously undiscovered pieces. Appended are a helpful bibliography for further reading and indexes including for works, authors of texts, first lines, and dedicatees.

Sir William Walton was born in Oldham, Lancashire in 1902, the son of a choirmaster and a singing-teacher. He became a chorister at Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford, and then an undergraduate at the University. His first composition to attract attention was a piano quartet written at the age of sixteen. At Oxford he made the acquaintance of the Sitwells who gave him friendship, moral and financial support and in 1922 he collaborated with Edith in devising the entertainment Façade. Less than ten years later, Osbert prepared the text of another masterwork, Belshazzar's Feast. From 1922 to 1927 Walton began to spend an increasing amount of time abroad, notably in Switzerland and Italy. The war years were devoted mainly to writing film and ballet scores and he became established as amongst the greatest composers for the screen.