This guide is part of our overview of the essential classical guitar repertoire. Sir William Walton (1902–1983) was one of the most significant British composers of the twentieth century — creator of Façade, Belshazzar's Feast, the First Symphony, and two coronation marches — who late in his career wrote a single work for classical guitar that became one of the instrument's most loved pieces.
From Lancashire to Ischia
Born in Oldham, Walton became a chorister at Christ Church Cathedral in Oxford before being taken under the wing of the extraordinary Sitwell family — Osbert, Edith, and Sacheverell — with whom he lived and worked for fifteen years. Façade (1923), setting Edith Sitwell's surrealist poetry for chamber ensemble and reciter, launched his reputation; Belshazzar's Feast (1931) consolidated it. His music served three monarchs: Crown Imperial (1937) and Orb and Sceptre (1953) became the sonic backdrop of British royal ceremony.
In 1948 he met and married Susana Gil Passo in Argentina. The couple settled on the Italian island of Ischia, where Susana transformed the volcanic hillside around their home into La Mortella — one of Italy's most celebrated gardens. It was here that Julian Bream visited, providing a fingerboard chart and the encouragement that produced the Five Bagatelles (1971). Walton later laughed that when Bream played the piece back to him, he had completely forgotten it was written for guitar. The Bagatelles were dedicated to Malcolm Arnold and premiered on 27 May 1972 at the Bath Assembly Rooms.
