JAVS Spring 2022

Feature Article

The Riddle in Walton’s Viola Concerto by Roger Benedict

What’s the Riddle ? Currently, the only available version of the solo part of William Walton’s Viola Concerto is taken from the 2002 Oxford University Press (OUP) William Walton edition, described by OUP as “a definitive and fully practical edition, based on the form in which the composer ultimately wished his music to be performed.” 1 In this edition, the solo viola part is based on British violist Frederick Riddle’s reinterpretation of Walton’s original, with many small but noticeable changes of expression and articulation. OUP did this on the basis that Walton had admired Riddle’s performances of the work and given instructions to the publisher to use Riddle’s annotated part when preparing a revised edition. The editor, Christopher Wellington, states in the publication’s foreword that Riddle’s version “conveys the nature of the work even more successfully than the original.” 2 But should such subjective statements have a place in a critical edition? How reliable is the evidence that Walton preferred Riddle’s version, when, in neither The Selected Letters of WilliamWalton (ed. Hayes), nor Susana Walton’s biography of her husband, does Riddle get a single mention? Is Walton’s admiration for Riddle overstated by Wellington and OUP? Walton was highly sensitive to criticism and readily accepted performers’ suggestions of changes to his works. Riddle “smoothed out” much of the solo line, arguably diluting the lively and nuanced rhythmic character of the original (heavily influenced, as the composer admitted, by Prokofiev and Hindemith). Does the Riddle version legitimately represent the last word on the solo part? Would it be more helpful for violists to have the original 1929 part to assess alongside Riddle’s to arrive at their own interpretation? The original part is printed as an alternative in the William Walton edition full orchestral score, but few violists will have access to this tome, for at the time of writing, it sells for £185 ($210).

A Born Genius The Concerto, premiered in 1929, brought the 26-year old Walton universal critical and public acclaim. Following the first performance, Eric Blom wrote in the Manchester Guardian , “[t]his young composer is a born genius” and said that it was “tempting to call the concerto the best thing in recent music of any nationality.” 3 It was conductor Thomas Beecham who suggested to Walton that he write a concerto for violist Lionel Tertis. Beecham was a champion of contemporary composers and Tertis, the leading viola player of the day, was the obvious choice to give its premiere. Walton sent Tertis the completed score in the spring of 1929, but the violist rejected it immediately without explanation, sending the score back by return of post. Walton recalled, “I was very, very hurt and disappointed and miserable . . . all this work for nothing.” 4 Tertis realized later that he made a mistake. He wrote in his autobiography, “With shame and contrition, I admit that when the composer offered me the first performance, I declined it …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.” 5 Hindemith Saves the Day Without an alternative soloist in place, Walton considered turning the piece into a violin concerto. Fortuitously though, composer and viola player Paul Hindemith was due to be in London at the time of the scheduled premiere and agreed to give its first performance. Hindemith and Walton were already acquainted, and Walton was a great admirer of the older composer’s music. Hindemith’s Kammermusik no. 5—a viola concerto in all but name—had been a significant influence on Walton’s concerto. “I was surprised he played it. One or two bars are almost identical!” 6 Walton said.

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Journal of the American Viola Society / Vol. 38, No. 1, Spring 2022