Selected Letters of William Walton

From his early years as a chorister at Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford to his old age on the Italian island of Ischia, Sir William Walton was a tireless correspondent. Spontaneous and naturally fluent, his letters build up a detailed self-portrait of one of England's finest 20th-century composers. The remarkable gallery of friends and colleagues to whom he wrote included: Osbert Sitwell, Siegfried Sassoon, Laurence Olivier, Benjamin Britten and Yehudi Menuhin. This selection contains new information about his compositions, notably his opera Troilus and Cressida. Much is also revealed of Walton's liaisons with the women in his life. The letters, many published here for the first time, have been annotated throughout, and the book includes previously unpublished photographs of the composer and his circle. This is a book to be savoured by all who love Walton's music, with its unique blend - like the letters themselves - of individual flair, English romanticism, and Italian warmth. William Walton (1902-1983) was the leading British composer of the generation that followed Elgar, Holst and Delius.
Among his works that have achieved lasting fame are Facade, Belshazzar's Feast and the opera Troilus and Cressida. In 1945 he composed the music for Laurence Olivier's highly successful film of Henry V.