Viola Concerto (Walton)

The Viola Concerto by William Walton was written in 1929 for the violist Lionel Tertis at the suggestion of Sir Thomas Beecham. The concerto carries the dedication "To Christabel" (Christabel McLaren, Lady Aberconway).

The premiere was given on 3 October 1929 with the composer conducting. However, it was not Lionel Tertis in the solo role, but Paul Hindemith, who became its early champion. Tertis initially declined the work, but took it up later. As he wrote in his autobiography:

One work of which I did not give the first performance was Walton's masterly concerto. With shame and contrition I admit that when the composer offered me the first performance I declined it. I was unwell at the time; but what is also true is that I had not learnt to appreciate Walton's style. The innovations in his musical language, which now seem so logical and so truly in the mainstream of music, then struck me as far-fetched.

—Lionel Tertis

The work follows the standard three-movement format for a concerto:

1. Andante comodo
2. Vivo, con molto preciso
3. Allegro moderato

The concerto is generally considered one of the more difficult in the repertoire. It was modelled on Prokofiev's First Violin Concerto, which Walton admired.

The first recording was made on 6 December 1937 by Frederick Riddle, with the composer conducting. Riddle was recommended for this recording by Tertis. He also made some revisions to the concerto, with Walton's approval. Although Walton conducted the work many times with leading soloists such as Tertis and William Primrose, the interpretation he liked above all others was that of Frederick Riddle; he asked Riddle to submit his edited manuscript to Oxford University Press, and this became the officially published version between 1938 and 1961.

Numerous other recordings have been made of the piece, by such violists as Yuri Bashmet, Nobuko Imai, Paul Neubauer and William Primrose. Many soloists better known for their violin playing have also recorded the concerto, including Nigel Kennedy, Maxim Vengerov, and Yehudi Menuhin.

Orchestration revision

The orchestration of the concerto was revised in 1961 by Walton, with the premiere of the revised version being performed by John Coulling accompanied by the London Philharmonic Orchestra under Sir Malcolm Sargent on 18 January 1962.

The revised orchestration features 2 flutes (second doubling piccolo), oboe, cor anglais, 2 clarinets (second doubling bass clarinet), 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, timpani, harp and strings, compared to the original of 2 flutes, piccolo, 2 oboes, cor anglais, 2 clarinets, bass clarinet, 2 bassoons, contrabassoon, 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani and strings.

Walton did not withdraw the earlier version, but did express a preference for the revised orchestration. Consequently, it is this version that is typically performed.