William Walton

Sir William Turner Walton, OM (29th March 1902–8th March 1983) was an English composer and conductor. His style was influenced by the works of Stravinsky, Sibelius and jazz, and is characterised by rhythmic vitality, bittersweet harmony, sweeping Romantic melody, and brilliant orchestration. His output includes orchestral and choral works, chamber music ,and ceremonial music, as well as notable film scores. His earliest works, especially Edith Sitwell's Façade, brought him notoriety as a modernist, but it was with orchestral symphonic works and the oratorio Belshazzar's Feast that he gained international recognition. He was knighted in 1951 and admitted to the Order of Merit in 1967. He died in Ischia, Italy, where he had settled in 1949. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.