Vocal Music

Sir William Walton was born in Oldham, Lancashire in 1902, the son of a choirmaster and a singing-teacher. He became a chorister at Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford, and then an undergraduate at the University. His first composition to attract attention was a piano quartet written at the age of sixteen. At Oxford he made the acquaintance of the Sitwells who gave him friendship, moral and financial support and in 1922 he collaborated with Edith in devising the entertainment Belshazzar's Feast. From 1922 to 1927 Walton began to spend an increasing amount of time abroad, notably in Switzerland and Italy. The war years were devoted mainly to writing film and ballet scores and he became established as amongst the greatest composers for the screen.

• Tell me where is Fancy bred? ; Tell me where is Fancy bred? - arr. piano ; Four Swinburne Songs ; 1. Child's Song ; 2. Song ; 3. A Lyke-wake Song ; 4. The Winds ; Tritons ; Three Songs to poems by Edith Sitwell ; 1. Daphne ; 2. Through Gilded Trellises ; 3. Old Sir Faulk ; Under the Greenwood Tree - low voice ; Under the Greenwood Tree - medium voice ; Beatriz's Song ; Beatriz's Song - arr. piano ; Anon. in Love ; 1. Fain would I change that note ; 2. O stay, sweet love ; 3. Lady, when I behold the roses ; 4. My Love in her attire ; 5. I gave her Cakes and I gave her Ale ; 6. To couple is a custom ; A Song for the Lord Mayor's Table ; 1. The Lord Mayor's Table ; 2. Glide Gently ; 3. Wapping Old Stairs ; 4. Holy Thursday ; 5. The Contrast ; 6. Rhyme ; Anon. in Love - orchestral version ; 1. Fain would I change that note ; 2. O stay, sweet love ; 3. Lady, when I behold the roses ; 4. My Love in her attire ; 5. I gave her Cakes and I gave her Ale ; 6. To couple is a custom ; A Song for the Lord Mayor's Table - orchestral version ; 1. The Lord Mayor's Table ; 2. Glide Gently ; 3. Wapping Old Stairs ; 4. Holy Thursday ; 5. The Contrast ; 6. Rhyme