Portrait of Walton

Displaced as Britain's preeminent living composer by Britten and later by Tippett after failing to fulfill the promise of his early masterpieces, composer William Walton was once regarded as a promising experimentalist and successor to Elgar. Here, Kennedy illuminates the complex and contradictory personality of Walton, whose moods ranged from self-critical, depressive, and jealous to witty, generous, and forgiving. Drawing on the composer's correspondence with friends and...
More Description

Displaced as Britain's preeminent living composer by Britten and later by Tippett after failing to fulfill the promise of his early masterpieces, composer William Walton was once regarded as a promising experimentalist and successor to Elgar. Here, Kennedy illuminates the complex and contradictory personality of Walton, whose moods ranged from self-critical, depressive, and jealous to witty, generous, and forgiving. Drawing on the composer's correspondence with friends and colleagues--including Britten, Malcolm Arnold, and André Previn, and assessing his compositions, Kennedy provides a compassionate and perceptive study of the life and music of this notable twentieth-century artist.