- Although William Walton went up to Oxford to study music, he left without a degree in 1920, having failed his exams three times. - His early choral masterpiece, A Litany, was written when the composer was just 15. - Walton befriended the war poet Siegfried Sassoon at Oxford, and dedicated his Portsmouth Point overture to him. - In 1948, Walton met the 22-year-old Susana Gil Passo in Buenos Aires while on a business trip. After dinner one evening, Walton is said to have told her ‘You will be very surprised, Miss Gil, to hear that I am going to marry you.’ - La Mortella, the Waltons’ home in Ischia, is open to the public – tours were conducted by his wife, Susana, up until her death in 2007. - Walton received the Order of Merit in 1967, the fourth composer to be awarded the honour. There can be only 24 recipients of the award at any one time. - William Walton wrote the music for the 1969 film Battle of Britain but it only on reading a copy of the Daily Telegraph that Walton discovered his music had been rejected in favour of a score by Ron Goodwin. - When Elgar died in 1934, the British authorities asked Walton to write a piece for the coronation of George VI. Crown Imperial was unashamedly populist, and many of Walton’s admirers, who believed the composer to be an avant-garde musician, were disappointed. - Benjamin Britten and Walton were close friends – Walton considered Britten a genius, but the compliment wasn’t reciprocated. - Walton wrote the music for the opening sequence of the BBC’s television adaptations of Shakespeare plays which were broadcast between 1978 and 1985, by which time the composer had died.

1. www.colstonhall.org/classical
10 things you didn’t
know about…
Walton

2. www.colstonhall.org/classical
Although
William Walton
went up to
Oxford to
study music,
he left without a degree
in 1920, having failed his
exams three times.

3. www.colstonhall.org/classical
His early choral
masterpiece,
A Litany, was
written when
the composer
was just 15.

4. www.colstonhall.org/classical
Walton befriended
the war poet Siegfried
Sassoon at Oxford,
and dedicated his
Portsmouth Point
overture to him.

5. www.colstonhall.org/classical
In 1948, Walton met the 22-year-old
Susana Gil Passo in Buenos Aires
while on a business
trip. After dinner one
evening, Walton is
said to have told
her ‘You will be very
surprised, Miss Gil,
to hear that I am
going to marry
you.’

6. www.colstonhall.org/classical
La Mortella, the
Waltons’ home in
Ischia, is open to
the public – tours
were conducted
by his wife,
Susana, up until
her death in 2007.

7. www.colstonhall.org/classical
Walton received the Order of Merit
in 1967, the fourth composer to be
awarded the honour.
There can be only 24 recipients of the
award at any one time.

8. www.colstonhall.org/classical
William Walton wrote the music for the
1969 film Battle of Britain but it only on
reading a copy of the
Daily Telegraph
that Walton
discovered his music
had been rejected in favour of a score
by Ron Goodwin

9. www.colstonhall.org/classical
When Elgar died in 1934,
the British authorities asked
Walton to write a piece for
the coronation of George
VI. Crown Imperial was
unashamedly populist,
and many of Walton’s
admirers, who believed
the composer to be an
avant-garde musician,
were disappointed.

10. www.colstonhall.org/classical
Benjamin Britten
and Walton were
close friends –
Walton
considered
Britten a
genius, but the
compliment
wasn’t
reciprocated.

11. www.colstonhall.org/classical
Walton wrote the music for
the opening sequence of the
BBC’s television adaptations of
Shakespeare plays which
were broadcast
between 1978 and
1985, by which time
the composer
had died.

12. www.colstonhall.org/classical
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