William Walton: Passacaglia for solo cello (1980)

William Walton had met the Russian cellist Mstislav Rostropovich at an Aldeburgh Festival concert and had asked him when he was going to play his Cello Concerto (1957). Susana Walton (Behind the Facade, 1988) explains that the cellist suggested that ‘You write me new work, and I will play new work and old work (sic).’

Walton composed the Passacaglia during 1979-80, but it had to wait a couple of years before it was performed. Rostropovich gave the première of the work at the Royal Festival Hall on 16 March 1982 in the composer’s presence. It was played twice, in honour of the composer’s 80^th birthday which was celebrated a few days later.

The Passacaglia is based on a dark, introverted theme, which is followed by a series of ten variations.  The first three are played on the lower register of the instrument. A climax is reached in the expressive fourth variation. The pace of the music picks up in the fifth and sixth whilst the seventh variation juxtaposes a lyrical melody supported by a pizzicato accompaniment. The eighth and ninth hark back to the composer’s ‘scherzo’ music from his time as an ‘enfant terrible’ of British music. The final variation is a flood of notes that challenges the virtuosity of the soloist. Possibly the only fault that the work has is its brevity – it lasts just over six minutes.

William Walton did not regard his Passacaglia for solo cello as being ‘a piece for public performance’. He felt that it would be better given in private and, interestingly he held the same view about Bach’s Suites for solo cello and violin.

Robert Anderson (The Musical Times, November 1983) has effectively described this work. He writes that although it is ‘hardly a significant piece; it has a haunting way with it and is cunningly crafted.’  The stylistic content of the entire work is a balance between a darker, elegiac romanticism and more ‘mercurial’ music. The Passacaglia can therefore be viewed as a summing up of the composer’s style throughout his career.

There are currently more than half dozen recordings of William Walton’s Passacaglia for solo cello. I was first introduced to this work by the Chandos Walton Edition CD (CHAN 8959), 1992. This was performed by Raphael Wallfisch. There are several versions currently uploaded on YouTube.

With thanks to the English Music Festival where this programme note was first published.