Author Description

During the latter part of 1960 Walton composed his Gloria, commissioned to celebrate the 125th anniversary of the Huddersfield Choral Society and Malcolm Sargent’s 30th year as its nominal conductor. Sargent conducted the first performance in Huddersfield on 24 November 1961 and the first London performance on 18 January 1962 (before which Walton made his customary amendments and alterations). The anonymous critic of The Times wrote of ‘no sensation of old ground retiled, but of new ground made fruitful by an old, still vigorous hand’, sentiments with which it is not difficult to disagree. The piece is skillfully constructed, but the invention simmers on a low simmer. Dissonance is ensured by the use of block harmony with clashing semitones and seconds, and chords in which a minor third, diminished fourth and major ninth are reiterated emphatically. In 1963 Walton visited Canada for the first time and attended the American première of the Gloria in Los Angeles. The Gloria has been recorded by the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and Chorus led by Louis Frémaux (EMI) and by the London Symphony Orchestra, the Bach Choir, and the London Philharmonic Choir led by Richard Hickox (Chandos).