Composer Benjamin Britten once wrote that hearing William Walton’s music was a “great
turning point in his musical life.” We’ll trace the arc of Walton’s life and his associations with
the greatest artists of his time, including Heifetz, Hindemith, Olivier, and Beecham. Bill features
Walton’s love of different musical genres; Film music from Henry V, the poem Façade set to
music performed by the London Mozart Players narrated by Prunella Scales (Sybil from BBC’s
Fawlty Towers), the orchestral march Crown Imperial, the cantata Belshazzar’s Feast, and his
viola concerto, which is studied and performed by all serious violists. This is a week steeped in
British music of the 20th century.
Walton, William
