William Walton Catalogue

C22 Concerto for Viola

C22 Concerto for Viola and Orchestra 29 autograph full score, for reference only and not for general use. In a reply dated 1 April 1949 Alan Frank of OUP wrote and offered the full score (original version) of the Viola Concerto (OUP archive). Instrumentation: picc.2.2.ca.2.bcl.2.cbn/4.3.3.1/ timp/strings (‘The strings are to play only 4/3/2/2/2, except where the sign (+) indicates that the full body of strings is to be used.’) Dedication: To Christabel [Mrs Henry McLaren, later Lady Aberconway] Duration: 23 minutes First performance: London, Queen’s Hall, 3 October 1929 (Promenade concert, broadcast by the BBC on the Daventry Experimental Station); Paul Hindemith and the Henry Wood Symphony Orchestra, conducted by William Walton First European performance: Berlin (Witzlehen), Radio HQ, 24 April 1930; Lionel Tertis and ad hoc orchestra, conducted by William Walton. (A copy of the day’s listings for German Radio can be found in the BBC’s Written Archive Centre. It reveals that the original soloist in the concerto was to be Hans Mahike, a member of the Havemann String Quartet and a professor of violin and chamber music at the Berlin Musikhochschule.) First American performance: The original version was never performed in the USA (see below for further details). A letter reveals that Walton sent Koussevitzky the score and viola part in December 1929 for the first American performance by an unnamed soloist and the Boston Symphony Orchestra (Library of Congress, Washington, DC). Other early performances: London, Queen’s Hall, 21 August 1930 (broadcast by the BBC in the National Programme); Bernard Shore and the BBCSO, conducted by William Walton • Liège, Music Conservatory Concert Hall, 4 September 1930; Lionel Tertis and unnamed orchestra, conducted by William Walton • London, Queen’s Hall, 26 March 1931 (RPS concert); Lionel Tertis and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Ernest Ansermet (the first occasion on which Tertis performed the concerto in England) • London, Queen’s Hall, 10 September 1931; Lionel Tertis and the BBCSO, conducted by William Walton • Manchester, Free Trade Hall, 14 January 1932; Lionel Tertis and the Hallé Orchestra, conducted by Sir Hamilton Harty • Birmingham, Town Hall, 21 February 1932 (broadcast by the BBC on the Midland Regional Programme); Lionel Tertis and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Leslie Heward • Worcester, Cathedral Church of Christ and St. Mary, 8 September 1932 (Three Choirs Festival concert); Lionel Tertis and the London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by William Walton. (At this concert Walton met Sir Edward Elgar.) Publication: full score: OUP, 1930 at 21s • miniature score: OUP, 1938 at 4s • WWE vol. 12, pp. 1–146 • arrangement for viola and piano: OUP, 1930 at 7s 6d • solo viola part, edited by Lionel Tertis: OUP, 1930 at 1s 6d (later reprinted to include the 1961 revisions and published in March 1964 at 30s. The following appeared on the title-page: In 1961 the composer rescored this work for a reduced orchestra and authorised that both the original and the new orchestration may be used; however, the composer strongly prefers the new version. In the course of his rescoring the composer made certain changes in tempo indications, dynamics etc. affecting the work as a whole, and these alterations have been incorporated in the present reprint of the piano score and solo part. The indications of instrumentation printed on the piano part refer to the original orchestration, but as the actual music remains basically unchanged in both orchestrations this piano part may still be used for rehearsal purposes. Indications of instrumentation for both orchestrations are printed in the solo part, with those where the reduced version differs from the original in square brackets. Bibliography: Christopher Wellington, WWE vol. 12 • C. A. Betancourt, William Walton’s Viola Concerto: A Methodology of Study (DA diss., Ball State University, Muncie, Indiana, 1997) • David Dalton, Playing the Viola: Conversations with William Primrose (Oxford: OUP, 1988), 197–201, 211 • Scott Goddard, The Concerto, ed. Ralph Hill (Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1962), pp. 392–6 • Basil Maine, Twang with Our Music: Being a Set of Variants to Mark the Completion of 30 Years’ Practice in the Uncertain Science of Music Criticism (London: Epworth Press, 1957), 112–13 • Robert Meikle, ‘Viola Concerto’, Craggs ML, pp. 78–81, 91–3 • William Primrose, Walk on the North Side: Memoirs of a Violist (Provo, Utah: Brigham Young University Press, 1978), 89, 99, 101,113, 115, 182,185,186 • Jürgen Schaarwächter, ‘Auf der Suchenach einem Interpreten: William Waltons Violakonzert und Paul Hindemith’, Hindemith-Jahrbuch Annals Hindemith 2006/XXXV (Frankfurt am Main, Hindemith-Institut; Mainz and London: Schott, 2006), 166–85 • Lionel Tertis, Cinderella no More (London: Neville, 1953), 38, 66–67; reprinted in My Viola and I (London: Elek, 1974), 36–7 • Donald F. Tovey, Essays in musical analysis, vol. 3, Concertos (London: OUP, 1935), 220–26 • Abraham Veinus, Victor Book of Concertos (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1948), 417–19 • Christopher For perusal purposes only

30 C22 Concerto for Viola and Orchestra Wellington, ‘William Walton’s Viola Concerto: A Mystery’, in An Anthology of British Viola Players, ed. John White (Colne: Comus, 1997), 245–6 • John White, Lionel Tertis: The First Great Virtuoso of the Viola (Woodbridge: Boydell, 2006), 105–110, 142, 149 • BPost, 18 Jan 1932, p. 8 (E. Blom); JAVaS 17 (2001), 31–7 (C.Taylor); 22 (2006), 13–18 (J. F.Dunham); The Listener, 17 Feb 1937, p. 335 (C. Lambert); 12 July 1945, pp. 52–3 (W. McNaught); MG, 15 Jan 1932, p. 8 (N. Cardus); MT 70 (November 1929), 1029–30 (E.B.); 71 (October 1930), 898–902 (E.E.), 934–5 (B.M.); 72 (May 1931), 453 (W.McN.); 73 (March 1932), 266 (B.M.); ST, 6 Oct 1929, p. 7 (E.N.); Times, 4 Oct 1929, p. 12; 6 Sept 1930, p. 8; 27 March 1931, p. 12; 21 Jan 1932, p. 10; 9 Sept 1932, p. 8; 10 Sept 1932, p. 8. Recordings: 78 Frederick Riddle / London Symphony Orchestra / Walton (recorded Decca Studios, Thames Street, London). Decca AX199–201 (1938); Dutton Laboratories CDAX 8003 (1993) • William Primrose / Philharmonia Orchestra / Walton (recorded No.1 Studio, Abbey Road, London, 22–23 July 1946). HMV DB 6309–11; HMV DB 9036–8 auto (1946) LP, CD William Primrose / Royal Philharmonic Orchestra / Malcolm Sargent. Columbia ML 4905 (1954); Philips ABL 3045 (1955) • William Primrose / Philharmonia Orchestra / Walton. Imprimateur IMP6 (1982)/EMI EH29 1276 1 (reissue of the 78 rpm, 1987); EMI CDH7 63828 2 (1991); Pearl GEMMCD 9252 (1997) Note: In a letter to Siegfried Sassoon (dated [5 December 1928], WW archive), Walton wrote that ‘I have been working hard at a Viola Concerto suggested by Beecham and designed for Lionel Tertis. It may be finished by Christmas and is I think by far my best effort up to now.’ On 2 February [1929], Walton was telling Sassoon that ‘I finished yesterday the second movement of my Viola Concerto. At the moment, I think it will be my best work.’ Over a year later on 3 July 1930, Walton informed Sassoon that ‘Hindemith is playing it on 3 October, myself with the “bâton”’ (WW archive). Revised version (1st) Holograph: Beinecke: GEN MSS 601 (FRKF 586a) • A BBC Symphony Orchestra Concert draft can be found in the BBC Written Archives which reveals that in January 1937 the BBC was considering an invitation ‘to William Primrose to produce Walton’s new version of his Viola Concerto instead of repeating Tertis in the old one’ (emphasis added). In fact, Tertis played the concerto at a BBC concert in Queen’s Hall on 24 February 1937—a celebration of his 60th birthday and his last performance, as he was retiring because of rheumatism in his bowing arm. The BBC Symphony Orchestra was conducted by Ernest Ansermet and this concert was broadcast on the BBC National Programme. • Primrose later played the concerto at a Promenade concert on 2 September 1937, with the BBCSO conducted by Henry Wood, but whether this was the new version is unclear; no reviews of the concert mention the fact. • According to a Philadelphia Orchestra programme note (3 March 1944, when the concerto was played by William Primrose with the Orchestra, conducted by Eugene Ormandy), ‘Mr. Primrose and William Walton made a thorough revision of the score [shortly before the war], deleting and adding, and re-writing the solo part. The latter, in its new form, differs materially from the one in the score, and, according to Mr. Primrose, has never been published.’ First American performance: New York, NBC Studio (Radio City), 14 May 1938; William Primrose and the NBC Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Sir Adrian Boult. (A programme note mentions that the concert includes: ‘the introduction in this country of William Walton’s Concerto for Viola and Orchestra with William Primrose as soloist’. It also notes that although ‘William Primrose’s performance in this country with the BBCSO on 2 September 1937 was rebroadcast over a National Broadcasting Company network, this will be the premiere performance of the work in this country.’) Other early performances: London, Queen’s Hall, 15 September 1938; William Primrose and the BBC Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Sir Henry Wood • Minneapolis, Northrop Memorial Auditorium, 3 March 1939; Davis Dawson and the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Dimitri Mitropoulos Bibliography: NY Times, 15 May 1938 (Section II), p. 2 (G.G.); Times, 3 Sept 1937, p. 10; 16 Sept 1938, p. 10 Revised version (2nd) ‘In 1961, the composer rescored the work for a smaller orchestra, using double instead of triple woodwind, omitting one trumpet and tuba, and adding a harp’ (from a note in the score). He also authorized that both the original and the new orchestrations may be used. Holograph: Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University: GEN MSS 601 (FRKF 586b) Instrumentation: 2(II + picc).1.ca.2(II + bcl).2/4.2.3.0/ timp/hp/strings For perusal purposes only