William Walton Catalogue

Passengers Only: A

Passengers Only: A Social Tragedy in Three Acts by Osbert and Sacheverell Sitwell. No details of the numbers performed or the instrumentalists are supplied either by the programme or reviews of the play. A flyer inserted into the programme, however, reveals that Constant Lambert, and Edith, Osbert, and Sacheverell took part, with Walton conducting. ‘Popular Song’ and ‘Black Mrs Behemoth’ may have had their first performances during this run. ‘A.P.’, writing in the Daily Sketch, said: ‘And lest it should seem that quantity had been neglected at the expense of quality, the Sitwell Entertainment Façade was included—at 10.40 with an interval and an act still to go.’ Writing in the Morning Post, ‘L.E.F.’ noted that ‘the whole of this “Sitwell’s Façade,” as it was entitled, was drowned utterly by the accompanying music, the effect being that of two different gramophone records being played at the same time.’ A similar reaction was noted by the writer in the Sunday Times: ‘Of Façade, part of which was given as an interlude, I can only say that hardly any of the words were distinguishable, whereas the whole of the accompanying instruments were mightily out of tune, intentionally or unintentionally.’ 14 September 1928: first European performance, Siena, Rozzi Theatre (6th ISCM Festival); there were two performances on this day. Constant Lambert (reciter), Renato Paci (fl, picc), Antonio Micozzi (cl, bcl), Walter Lear (sax), Umberto Semproni (tpt), Eduardo Guarnieri (vc), and Pellegrini (perc). No conductor is mentioned in the programme, but Walton is said to have conducted in the contemporary press reports. Curtain designed by Gino Severini. (Walter Lear told the present author that the clarinet player played with the mouthpiece upside down: ‘The only time I have seen this method in operation. Sounded fairly normal’.) Fanfara 1. (a) La Cornamusa [Hornpipe mistaken for Bagpipe!] (b) Il Marinaio (c) La Rapsodia scozzese; 2. (a) Foxtrot ‘Il vecchio cav. Faulk’ (b) Alle quattro di mattina (c) Canto popolare; 3. (a) Ninna nanna per il Jumbo (b) Vicino al lago (c) La nera sig. Behemoth; 4. (a) Walzer (b) II canto tirolese (c) Polka; 5. (a) Dafne (b) Un uomo d’un paese lontano (c) Danzi di campagnola; 6. (a) L’erba dello stelo lungo (b) Marcia (c) Attraverso lo stecconato dorato (d) Tango–pasodoble; 7. (a) Tarantella (b) C’è qualche cosa al di là della scena (c) Il cav. Belzebub In a letter to Thomas Balston, Edith Sitwell described the Siena performance as a triumph in many ways. She added C12 Façade 9 that Walton thought the poems of Façade should be translated into verse for performance in the different countries; this she declined to do, believing it would ruin the poems completely (Washington State University Library). Bibliography: • MGn, 24 Sept 1928, p. 5 (L.H.); MMR 58 (1928), 300 (R. Capell); MO 52 (1928), 130–31; MT 69 (1928), 937 (H. Foss) 30 April 1929: first Paris performance, Salle Chopin. Edith Sitwell and Constant Lambert (reciters) and ensemble including Gaston Blanquart (fl, picc) and Louis Cahuzac (cl, bcl), conducted by William Walton. In a letter to Siegfried Sassoon of 2 February 1929, Walton wrote ‘There is no news to speak of—“Façade” has been put off in Paris until April which I am rather pleased about as I shall be able to be there, perhaps conduct it on my way back from Amalfi.’ (WW archive). Edith Sitwell later reported to Sassoon (letter 7 May 1929): ‘The performance of Façade was odd and lonely. Everybody slept, excepting me, and I disgraced myself by giggling. Then there was Façade, and everybody woke up with a shriek. We got lots of calls.’ (Balston Papers, Washington State University Library). Lennox Berkeley wrote in the Monthly Musical Record (MMR 59, 1929, 174): ‘Lastly, I must mention the first performance in Paris of Walton’s Façade. The wit and colour of this delightful work made an instant appeal to the audience; and the composer, who conducted, together with Miss Edith Sitwell and Mr Constant Lambert who recited the poems, was warmly applauded.’ 28 November 1929: first recording, New Chenil Galleries, Chelsea. Edith Sitwell and Constant Lambert (reciters) and ensemble, conducted by William Walton. Four numbers recorded by Edith Sitwell, seven by Constant Lambert (‘By the Lake’ was also recorded but not issued). Reviewed, Gram 7 (1930), 497–8 (C. Mackenzie). Released on Decca T124-5, American Decca 25632–3 (1930); Decca K991/2 (1941). Also on OUP 110 (1972) as part of the deluxe edition of Façade to celebrate Walton’s 70th birthday (though ‘Valse’ was omitted); ECM834 (1979); Claremont GSE 78-50-65 (1995); Decca SYMCD 1203 (1997). 3 March 1930: first complete broadcast, London, Central Hall, Westminster. The fourth season of Concerts of Contemporary Music, held privately. Broadcast on 5GB Daventry Experimental and transmitted from London. Edith Sitwell and Constant Lambert (reciters), Robert Murchie (fl, picc), Frederick Thurston (cl, bcl), Walter Lear (sax), Ernest Hall (tpt), Ambrose Gauntlett (vc), and Charles Bender (perc), conducted by Leslie Heward. For perusal purposes only

10 C12 Façade 1. Polka, Four in the Morning, Foxtrot ‘Old Sir Faulk’; 2. Waltz, By the Lake, Tarantella; 3. Daphne, A Man from a Far Countree, Country Dance; 4. Scotch Rhapsody, Jodelling Song, Sir Beelzebub; 5. Long Steel Grass, Through Gilded Trellises, Tango– Pasodoblé, I Do Like to Be beside the Seaside; 6. Black Mrs Behemoth, Popular Song, The Last Galop See RT, 28 Feb 1930, p. 507. 21 March 1930: Bath, Pump Room (Festival of Contemporary Arts concert). Constant Lambert (reciter) and ensemble, conducted by Edward Dunn. Curtain by Gino Severini. Fanfare; 1. Polka, Lullaby for Jumbo, Foxtrot; 2. Valse, By the Lake, Tarantella; 3. Daphne, A Man from a Far Countree, Country Dance; 4. Scotch Rhapsody, Jodelling Song, Sir Beelzebub; 5. Long Steel Grass, Through Gilded Trellises, Tango; 6. Black Mrs Behemoth, Popular Song, The Last Galop Reviewed, Bath and Wiltshire Chronicle and Herald, 22 March 1930, p. 3; MT 71 (1930), 456–7 (M. Montague-Nathan). 29 May 1942: London, Aeolian Hall. Constant Lambert (reciter), John Francis (fl, picc), Richard Temple Savage (cl, bcl), Frank Johnson (sax), Richard Walton (tpt), Sela Trau (vc), and James Blades (perc), conducted by William Walton. Curtain designed by John Piper and painted by Aleck Johnson. Performance repeated 26 June 1942, London, Aeolian Hall, with the same musicians. 1. Hornpipe, En Famille, Mariner Man; 2. Trio for Two Cats and a Trombone, Through Gilded Trellises, Tango; 3. Scotch Rhapsody, Lullaby for Jumbo, Foxtrot: ‘Old Sir Faulk’; 4. By the Lake, A Man from a Far Countree, Country Dance; 5. Yodelling song, Black Mrs Behemoth, Popular Song; 6. Polka, Valse, Tarantella; 7. Four in the Morning, Something Lies beyond the Scene, Sir Beelzebub As the programme also included Schoenberg’s Pierrot Lunaire, which consisted of three groups of seven poems, Constant Lambert suggested that Façade should have seven groups of three poems. Bibliography: • Francis Spalding, John Piper—Myfanwy Piper: Lives in Art (Oxford, OUP, 2009), 212 • Times, 30 May 1942, p. 2 9 September and 27 October 1946: London, Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith. Constant Lambert (reciter), Arthur Gleghorn (fl, picc), Bernard Walton (cl, bcl), Walter Lear (a sax), Harold Jackson (tpt), Raymond Clark (vc), and James Blades (perc), conducted by Leighton Lucas. Curtain by John Piper. Reviewed, Times, 10 Sept 1946, p. 6. 6 January and 18 June 1947 (recording): BBC Third Programme. Constant Lambert (reciter), Edward Walker (fl, picc), Bernard Walton (cl), Wilfred Hambleton (bcl), Walter Lear (a sax), Harold Jackson (tpt), Raymond Clark (vc), and James Blades (perc), conducted by Leighton Lucas. This performance was preceded by a talk on Façade by Edith Sitwell. 10 December 1948: BBC Third Programme. Transmission of performance recorded 18 June 1947. Further transmissions 31 January and 4 December 1949. Reviewed, The Listener, 2 Dec 1948, p. 860 (H. Foss). 19 January 1949: first complete American performance, New York, Auditorium of the Museum of Modern Art. Edith Sitwell (reciter) and ensemble, conducted by Frederick Prausnitz. The performance was introduced by Osbert Sitwell and the curtain was designed by the Spanish painter Esteban Frances and projected on a screen. David Horner recited ‘Tango–Pasodoblé’. 22 June 1950: first performance at the Aldeburgh Festival. Edith Sitwell (reciter), John Francis (fl, picc), Wilfred Hambleton (cl, bcl), Walter Lear (a sax), David Mason (tpt), George Roth (vc), and Herbert Wilson (perc), conducted by William Walton. Curtain by John Piper. 2 August 1951: first performance after the publication of the printed score, Liverpool, Town Hall. Edith Sitwell and Peter Pears (reciters), with members of the British Opera Group Orchestra, conducted by William Walton. Piper curtain used. Repeated the following day with the same performers in the Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool. 24 September 1951: Hollywood, California, West Hollywood Auditorium (‘Evening on the Roof’ concert). Jane Wyatt (reciter) and members of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by John Barnett. 8 July 1952: performance at the Royal Festival Hall, London. Edith Sitwell (reciter), Edward Walker (fl, picc), Sidney Fell (cl), Patrick Whelen (bcl), Walter Lear (a sax), George For perusal purposes only