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WILLIAM WALTON

WILLIAM WALTON

Welcome

Welcome

I am delighted to introduce to you the website of William Walton Trust. As international appreciation continues to grow for one of the great men of British music we hope that this site will prove interesting and informative both to those who are looking for general information and to those seeking specialist help.

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The trust

The William Walton Trust holds a special position in the United Kingdom, achieved through the active role which the Trust plays in running arts education projects and ...

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Mission

The William Walton Trust and the Fondazione William Walton e La Mortella have the following general objectives:

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You do not know Giardini la Mortella?

Visit the site of the spectacular subtropical and mediterranean garden developed since 1956 by the late Susana Walton.

Giardini la Mortella

Prelude and Fugue: The Spitfire, for orchestra (1942)

• Composition: 1942. Extracted from the music for the film The First of the Few.
• First Performance: 2 January 1943. Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool. Liverpool Philharmonic Crchestra, Sir William Walton conductor.
• Duration: About 8 minutes
• Craggs Catalogue Number: C45a
• Instrumentation: 2 flutes (second doubling piccolo), 1 or 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 1 or 2 bassoons – 4 horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba – timpani, percussion (side drum, cymbals, bell) – harp – strings
A note in the score reads: “Optional 2nd oboe and 2nd bassoon parts have been added by Vilem Tausky, with the composer’s authorization.”
• Manuscript: Frederick R. Koch Collection. Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University. Manuscript FRKF 607. Autograph full score. 32 pages.
• Publication: Oxford University Press. Study score, 1961, 019 3683504. Score and parts are available on hire.
• Arrangements:
Prelude, arranged for organ solo, by Dennis Morrell.
Publication: Oxford University Press. Score, 1966, 019 3744725 (discontinued). Also included in A Walton Organ Album, 1996, 019 3758709.
[Purchase online from SheetMusicPlus.com: A Walton Organ Album]

Prelude, arranged for military band, by Rodney B. Bashford.
Publication: Boosey and Hawkes. Score, 1966, QMB 273, and parts.
[Purchase online from SheetMusicPlus.com: Unidentified materials, arr. Bashford]

Fugue, arranged for military band, by J. L. Wallace.
Publication: Boosey and Hawkes. Score, 1970, QMB 288, and parts. Discontinued.

Arranged for brass ensemble, by Elgar Howarth, 1977.
Instrumentation: Piccolo trumpet, 2 cornets, 2 trumpets, 4 horns, 3 trombones, tuba – timpani, 2 percussion
Publication: Oxford University Press. Score and parts are available on hire.

Arranged for brass band, by Crees.
Instrumentation: 3 piccolo trumpets, 3 trumpets, flugelhorn, 4 horns, 3 trombones, 2 euphonium, 2 tuba – tmipani, percussion
Publication: Oxford University Press. Score and parts are available on hire.
• Recordings:

Orchestra Conductor Year Compact Disc Timing
Hallé Orchestra Sir William Walton 1943 EMI Classics 63381 8’14”
Philharmonia Orchestra Sir William Walton 1963 EMI Classics 65007 7’58”
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra Sir Charles Groves 1969 EMI Classics 67222 7’19”
Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields Sir Neville Marriner 1990 Chandos CHAN 8870 8’38”
Florida Philharmonic Orchestra James Judd 1991 Harmonia Mundi 907070 7’00”
English Northern Philharmonia Paul Daniel 1996 Naxos 8.553869 7’41”
The Band of the Scots Guards  [arr. Bashford/Wallace] Major R. J. Owen 2002 SRC 107 8’03”