Symphony No. 1 (Walton)

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The Symphony No. 1 in B-flat minor by the English composer William Walton was commissioned by Hamilton Harty, and completed in 1935. The first complete performance was given by Harty and the BBC Symphony Orchestra on the 6 November of that year, although a performance of the first three movements had been given the previous December by Harty with the London Symphony Orchestra, whilst Walton struggled with the composition of the finale.

The work is in four movements.

Allegro assai
Scherzo: Presto con malizia
Andante con malinconia
Maestoso – Allegro, brioso ed ardentemente – Vivacissimo – Maestoso

It is scored for a symphony orchestra comprising: 2 flutes (second doubling piccolo), 2 oboes, 2 clarinets in B-flat (doubling clarinets in A), 2 bassoons – 4 horns in F, 3 trumpets in C, 3 trombones, tuba – 2 timpani, 2 percussion (snare drum, cymbals, tam-tam) , – strings [1]

The second movement is of note for the con malizia (with malice) performance instruction; allegedly this was inspired after Walton parted with a long-term girlfriend. [2]

The Symphony had an unusual genesis: Walton was experiencing a tempestuous relationship with Imma von Doernberg, who finally left him for the Hungarian doctor Tibor Csato. The turbulent emotions and high-voltage energy of the Symphony were the fruit of the events surrounding its conception, with an eloquent, dramatic first movement, a stinging, malicious Scherzo and a thoroughly melancholic slow movement. But the finale is totally different in outlook, being almost Elgarian in its ceremonial jubilation (although the two fugal sections clearly nod towards Hindemith). It is evident to the listener that a cloud has lifted, and this is explained by the fact that Walton became stuck after the slow movement, but his new relationship with Alice Wimborne provided the musical impetus and inspiration for the last movement — although he still dedicated the Symphony as a whole to Imma von Doernberg. In musical terms, the work is a landmark of English composition and represents the peak of Walton's symphonic thinking. The two composers in favour in 1930s England were Beethoven and Sibelius, advocated by Constant Lambert in his book Music Ho!. Walton cleverly draws on both sources: the first movement is written in Beethovenian sonata form, and the developmental procedures clearly derive from Beethoven (almost 'beating the themes to death'!). The model for the symphony may indeed be Beethoven's "Hammerklavier" piano sonata (no. 29 in B flat, op. 106). The tonality is the same (B flat); the broad opening Allegro followed by a brisk scherzo; a slow, highly-emotional third movement in F sharp minor (an unusual choice of key in relation to B flat); the fourth movement is fugue-like in its treatment of themes, although not as complex as Beethoven's in the "Hammerklavier." The slow movement comes third, as in the "Hammerklavier", because it is in sonata form: Walton merely follows the traditional Viennese rule of not having two movements together in the same form (the first and second) as is the case with the Hammerklavier. It could be said that the symphony is Walton's "answer" to Beethoven's "Hammerklavier". In this skeletal frame, the first movement is shot through with smaller Sibelius-like motifs (such as the opening horn call) which run throughout the movement and bind it together. The thematic rigour and shattering emotional power of the movement — and the Symphony as a whole — may be attributed to this unique method of musical construction.