Walton (1902-1983) - Coronation March: Orb and Sceptre
Inasmuch
as they (along with countless others) follow the traditional ABAB pattern,
Walton’s two coronation marches are similar in form, but otherwise they
are a world apart. Crown Imperial, written for the coronation of
George VI in 1937, sounds like (and indeed is) a direct descendent
of Elgar’s Pomp and Circumstance marches. However I would beg to
differ with the commentator who distinguishes Orb and Sceptre, written
for the coronation of Elizabeth II in 1953, purely on account of its being
less “firmly diatonic” and more “richly chromatic” than its predecessor.
By far the most striking feature of Orb and Sceptre is surely its
sheer jazziness, both in its kinky syncopations and its “gratuitous”
screeching dissonances. The dominant influence is surely the music of “The
Age of Swing” that blossomed during the Second World War.
Musically
valid as such things are, I can’t help feeling that Walton must have been
chancing his arm using them in music for a coronation, and I can well imagine
that many conservative (small “c”) hackles rose at the first performance!
Then again, if Walton was going to reflect the “spirit of the time”, which
to some extent was his bounden duty, then really he had no option. Other
than a fleeting and probably entirely deliberate echo of Mendelssohn’s
Wedding
March at the outset, the main section is “swing” all the way, particularly
the rollicking trombones which are a far cry from Elgar’s equally nimble
but much more square-footed beasts. Jazzy syncopations inflect even the
traditionally pompous fanfares. Only the regal processional of the counter-subject
seems unruffled by all this mid-century decadence - until the climax, that
is. The cutting edge of the trumpets, and even more forcibly the piercing
dissonances in the run-up to the Grand Reprise, surely owe something to
the likes of Glen Miller and company. It sounds like a right royal knees-up
to me!
.
© Paul Serotsky
29, Carr Street,
Kamo,
Whangarei 0101,
Northland,
New Zealand
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