This is a handsome book of 170 odd pages of crisp black
and white photographs cataloguing the life and times of Walton. It is
also fascinating as a history book with stunning pictures of Oldham
in the early days of the 20th century.
While the text contains the usual mistakes and omissions
about Walton, ignoring vital facts such as his studies with Humphrey
Searle and asserting that he (Walton) and Britten were friends, this
is a wonderful portrait of his life and times in pictures.
The foreword is by the recently knighted André
Previn whose performances of Walton's works are extremely good in contrast
to some dreadful recorded performances by Rattle, Haitink and Paul Daniel.
The first picture is of a trolley bus in Oldham. There
is a lovely picture of his parents on their wedding day.
Walton always loved the ladies and the picture of the
Edwardian women, called here a ‘bevy of beauties’, published by the
Oldham Council was intended to welcome people to this factory town.
There is a hand-written family tree and a simply gorgeous picture of
Billie, as he was then known, with his older brother, Noel. The pictures
of them as choristers at St Johns is quite stunning and I do know that
Walton hated Britten's evil remarks about choirboys.
There is the story of Elsie Slight, as well!
And there is a copy of a letter he wrote to his mother
in 1910 and a picture of the seaside which inspired a movement from
Façade. How different things were in those days!
There is much about Sir Thomas Beecham who was also
a Lancastrian. Walton saw him conduct Boris Godunov. We are reminded
that in Oldham there were as many pubs as mills.
Among my favourite pictures is that on page 24 with
the staff and pupils of Christ Church Choir School, Oxford. in 1912.
I wish they had been identified separately. There are some super pictures
of musicians of the past, Hugh Allen and Henry Ley among them.
There are copies of manuscripts of early Walton, the
Litany Drop drop slow tears of 1916, a real homesickness piece
and a Chorale Prelude Wheatley. The cathedral society really
affected the boy. There is also a banal Valse in C minor of 1917.
One cannot imagine Willie at sport but he loved rowing.
Now here is a mystery. Early photographs of Willie
and of Edith Sitwell show a remarkable likeness. Charles Walton was
known to be a ladies' man and a bit of a lecher.
The decadent 1920s are well portrayed. Willie loved
the company of beautiful young women. He loved pub crawls and met the
first love of his life the German princess Imma von Doernberg.
Walton had the distinction of meeting Berg and Schoenberg.
He also had among his friends the poet Roy Campbell and that sublime
musician Constant Lambert, who, like Rawsthorne and others became seriously
affected with alcohol. Rawsthorne was carrying on with Lambert's wife
behind Constant's back and while Lambert was so ill.
There is a reference and picture of Paul Hindemith,
who, along with Searle and Henze, was one of Walton's greatest music
friends.
There is a picture of Elgar and a record of his abject
rudeness to Walton
Of special mention are the pictures of productions
of Troilus and Cressida with super pictures of stars like Janet
Baker and Jill Gomez.
Highly recommended
David Wright
See also reviews by Christopher
Fifield and Ian
Lace
by Humphrey Burton and
Maureen Murray