William Walton: Chorale Prelude on Wheatley (1916)

Back in the late 1980s/early 1990s when Chandos were releasing their “complete” Walton Edition on record, I was surprised that it did not include one of William’s earliest compositions: the Chorale Prelude on Wheatley. This remains his only surviving organ piece from his student days. 

In 1916, Walton was a chorister at Christ Church, Oxford, under the auspices of Dr Thomas Strong. Other works written at this time include Tell me where fancy is bred for soprano and tenor voices, three violins and piano, and A Litany for mixed chorus. In a letter (Hayes, 2002, p.9) to his mother, 10 September 1916, “Billy” mentions having shown a portfolio of works to Henry Ley, the then Organist of Christ Church Cathedral. There was also a six part Motet, which Ley suggested had “wonderful ideas in it.” There is mention of an unfinished [Chorale] Fantasia for organ.

Craggs catalogue (2014 passim) indicates that there was also a The Forsaken Merman, a cantata for soprano and tenor soli, double female chorus and orchestra. This work has never been performed. A Litany is the only piece to have been recorded. It is “fluently and expertly written for choir and a genuine Walton experience, with surprising harmonic progressions.”

The details of the Chorale Prelude on Wheatley are straightforward. It is a mere 39 bars long and was dated 16^th August 1916. It was written by Walton when he was only fourteen years old. It has never been published, although the manuscript is secure in the British Library (Add. MS 52384). Craggs notes that this holograph was presented to the British Library by the composer Howard Ferguson. It had been given to him by the English musician Emily Daymond, who in turn had it from Henry Ley. The hymn tune Wheatley was composed by Basil Harwood (1859-1949) and was included in the Oxford Hymn Book published in 1908. The title derives from a village five miles east of Oxford.

In 1981, ITV’s South Bank Show screened a film length documentary about the life and work of William Walton – At the Haunted End of the Day, produced by Tony Palmer. It has been uploaded to YouTube. The feature contained interviews with the composer, his widow Susanah and Laurence Olivier. In an early scene, an uncredited organist (at 12:48) plays the Chorale Prelude on Wheatley. This is hardly a lost masterpiece, but I do feel that it sounds competent for a fourteen year old boy. Certainly, it should be recorded for posterity.

Reference books are unable to provide a date for its first performance, although it is quite likely to be contemporary with its composition.

Luckily, music historians have Walton’s youthful assessment of this early work. Writing to his mother on 10 September 1916, he told her that “A new choral[e] Prelude and two others didn’t sound well on organ but were fairly respectable on piano.”  (Hayes, 2002, p.9)

A full technical analysis of the Chorale Prelude on Wheatley has been included in Gary D Cannon’s dissertation (2014, p.102ff).

Finally, the above letter mentions that he had gone to the village of Wheatley [in homage?] to the east of Oxford: “Some aeroplanes had been over. One looped the loop.”  It must be assumed that during 1916 that these were Royal Flying Corps “kites.”

Bibliography:
Cannon, Gary D., From Oldham to Oxford: The Formative Years of Sir William Walton, University of Washington, 2014.
Craggs, Stuart R., William Walton: A Catalogue, 3rd edition, Oxford University Press, 2014.
Ed. Hayes, Malcolm, The Selected Letters of William Walton, London, Faber & Faber, 2002.