JAVS Summer 2014

compositions and often re-publishing the same titled work in different guise: among them are Façade , Portsmouth Point , Balshazzar’s Feast , the violin concerto, sinfonia concertante, and the cello concerto, as well as the Scapino overture. Additionally, he reconfigured his String Quartet No. 2 as the Sonata for Strings . However, it is less common for a composer to continually make or accept changes to the same titled work over time and not to “pull” the former when releasing the latter. Now, some have argued that this demonstrates maturity over time or a reflection of a more refined musical style. However, as we have seen in our concerto, this has caused confusion among soloists, musicians, and conductors alike. To add yet further confusion to the plethora of changes made before 1961, Walton decided to re-score the entire concerto. The 1929 orchestration of triple woodwinds, four horns, three trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, and strings, even with an instructed reduction of strings when the solo viola is engaged, seems overpowering. However, it is rightly pointed out by James Dunham that “in both versions the full orchestra only plays during the tutti sections, yet when the soloist is playing there are actually a few more strings called for in the revised version than in the original.” 33 In addition to the masterful, memorable melodies; the perky, brisk, and somewhat jazzy scherzo second movement; the cross currents of major versus minor; the cohesive logical handling of the musical material; and the idiomatic lines, the genius of this concerto is heard in the brilliance of the orchestration. Walton uses all manner of color and texture combinations: viola unaccompanied, viola with light accompaniment, viola as accompaniment, chamber-ensemble texture, solo instrumental

lines other than viola, and full orchestra without viola! The 1961 version calls for piccolo, flute, oboe, English horn, two clarinets, two bassoons, four horns, two trumpets, three trombones, timpani, harp, and strings. 34 The reasons for the re orchestration are a little elusive. A letter to OUP indicated that Walton believed the new version improved clarity and definition. 35 Other reasons might include codifying the multiple changes over the years, to encourage more performances; 36 the neo-classical sensitivity sweeping across Europe may also have been a factor. Between the years 1929 and 1962, there appeared yet other versions of the concerto, including a score sent to Koussevitsky from Walton with an acknowledgment by Koussevitsky dated February 8, 1930. This was discovered in the collection of music that Koussevitsky bequeathed to the Library of Congress in 1978. According to Wellington, this score contains significant differences from the 1929 edition. Wellington simply comments: “Mysterious.” 37 There were also two different miniature scores published by OUP of the 1929 version with minor alterations and additions, and one miniature score appeared in 1962 with the re-orchestrated version and Walton’s original viola part, which was reprinted in 1976. The 1962 Edition Through these conflicting versions, this project became a muddled quagmire of misunderstanding. This occurred on two levels: first, with the viola part, and second, with the orchestration.

V OLUME 30 S UMMER 2014 O NLINE I SSUE

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