Violin Concerto: Violin and piano reduction (William Walton Edition)

Violin and piano reduction of Walton's Violin Concerto, based on the edition published in the Walton Edition Violin and Cello Concertos volume. Commissioned by Jascha Heifetz, the work was completed in 1939 and premiered by Heifetz later that year. Walton revised the concerto in 1943 and it is this version which is presented in the current edition. Orchestral material is available on hire.

Sir William Walton was born in Oldham, Lancashire in 1902, the son of a choirmaster and a singing-teacher. He became a chorister at Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford, and then an undergraduate at the University. His first composition to attract attention was a piano quartet written at the age of sixteen. At Oxford he made the acquaintance of the Sitwells who gave him friendship, moral and financial support and in 1922 he collaborated with Edith in devising the entertainment Façade. Less than ten years later, Osbert prepared the text of another masterwork, Belshazzar's Feast. From 1922 to 1927 Walton began to spend an increasing amount of time abroad, notably in Switzerland and Italy. The war years were devoted mainly to writing film and ballet scores and he became established as amongst the greatest composers for the screen.