Discovering William Walton's (1902-83): String Quartet [No.2] in A minor (1947)

William Walton’s chamber music does not command the popularity of his Façade (Entertainment) (1922), the Spitfire Prelude and Fugue (1943) or the Elgarian Crown Imperial (1937) and Orb and Sceptre (1953) Marches.  Even once-popular works such as Belshazzar’s Feast (1931) and the Symphony No.1 (1935) do not now seem to catch the concert programmers’ attention, although there have been Prom performances of both these works in the past few years.  The statistics tell everything. Currently, there are only four recorded versions of the present String Quartet listed in the Arkiv CD Catalogue, compared to 24 for the Symphony No.1, his most popular work with CD purchasers. 

There are comparatively few pieces of chamber music in Walton’s catalogue. These include a Toccata (1923), a Sonata (1949) and Two Pieces (1951) all for violin and piano, a Passacaglia for solo cello (1980) and an early Quartet for piano and strings (1919, plus revisions). One work that has caught the public’s imagination are the late Five Bagatelles for guitar (1972) dedicated to Malcolm Arnold and edited by Julian Bream who also gave the premiere.

The Quartet for strings [No.2] was preceded by an early example (1919-22).  For many years this remained unpublished but was revived in 1990 and fully restored to its uncut version in 2011.  Since the late 1930s, Walton had toyed with writing a work for the Blech Quartet. Unfortunately, his film music scores got in the way of its progress.  In 1944, Walton explained to Norman Peterkin (composer and publisher) that ‘there is…a quartet on the way, but that will be a little while before completed.’ Other intimations of the work’s progress included a letter (1945) to Roy Douglas where he admits to having been writing film music for too long to be able to conceive an abstract work. Even by 1947, progress was slow. The Quartet’s premiere at the Wigmore Hall had been postponed from 4 February 1947.  It was rescheduled to 4 May where it featured on the Third Programme transmission from the BBC Broadcasting House Concert Hall. The first public performance was on the following day at the same venue. The Blech String Quartet played at both events.

Major works from the late 1940s included the monumental score for Olivier’s Henry V (1944), the beautiful anthem ‘Where does the uttered music go?’ written for the Henry Wood Memorial Service (1946) and film music for Hamlet (1948).  In 1949 Walton was to turn to chamber music once more with his commanding Sonata for violin and piano.

The clue to understanding the String Quartet in A minor is to see it in the context of the Symphony No.1 completed in 1935 and in recognising that Walton has used classical structures to fulfil the requirements of this piece of absolute music. Frank Howes has stated that the exemplar of this quartet is Beethoven rather than Bartok.

The opening ‘allegro’ is the longest of the four. It is a highly developed example of ‘sonata form.’ Unusually, it opens with a lyrical first subject, followed by a spiky, febrile second. The contrast is considerable. This material is re-presented in the development section with many changes of metre, before dropping into a powerful fugato. The movement ends with a final climax derived from the opening theme, before closing with a quiet reminiscence of the second.

The vibrant ‘scherzo’ has echoes of the ‘malizia’ (with malice) second movement of the Symphony No.1 although there is less spite.  This music, played ‘presto’, is ‘will o’ the wisp’ in its headlong dash.

The ‘lento’ is lyrical and reflective, featuring ternary form (ABA). The composer brings the viola to the fore, taking on the romantic main theme. This music is characterised as a dialogue between players, creating an intimate and personal mood. There are even some hints of serenading guitars: Walton’s ‘Mediterranean’ mood, so prominent in the Violin Concerto (1939) has re-emerged.

The finale, ‘allegro molto’ is a brief rondo that uses robust unisons, huge chordal structures and a cool stammering theme that leads into an expressive and romantic interlude. The work concludes with a dynamic coda that destroys any lingering memories of the introspective ‘Lento.’

The score was published in 1947 in a facsimile edition of the composer’s holograph. It carried a dedication to the film music director and composer, Ernest Irving (1878-1953)

In 1971 the Quartet for strings [No.2] was arranged by the composer as a Sonata for string orchestra. The transcription of the final movement was completed by Malcolm Arnold (1921-2006) under Walton’s supervision.

William Walton’s String Quartet [No.2] in A minor (1947) has been uploaded to YouTube. It is played here by the Britten Quartet. Other good performances can be heard given by The Doric Quartet, the Maggini Quartet and the Endellion Quartet.

With thanks to the English Music Festival where this article first appeared.