Carl Davis Conducts Walton

The disc opens with Walton's music for the 1944 film Henry V, in a suite compiled by Malcolm Sargent. This contains some of Walton's best known film music - the beautiful passacaglia "Death of Falstaff" and the exquisite "Touch her sweet lips and part" - along with the less familiar title music.

Next, Davis resurrected the music that Walton wrote for the 1969 film The Battle of Britain, most of which was not used. It was unheard until the composer Colin Matthews prepared a suite from the score, containing one of Walton's typically Elgarian marches. In his Gramophone review, Edward Greenfield commented, "The big melody itself is first cousin to the one in 'Orb and Sceptre' (as indeed is the one in the English Speaking Peoples March) but after its first repetition a trio section is provided by using the music Walton wrote to represent the German pilots. Partly as a dig at Wagner - a composer Walton did not enjoy - he took Siegfried’s horn theme and turned it into a tripping, elegant waltz, almost French in style. It provides an unexpected but delightful contrast before the big tune returns in full grandeur."

The sole work on the LP not from a film is the Act II Interlude from Walton's opera Troilus and Cressida. As Greenfield commented, it is "almost as explicit in its musical representation of love-making as the Prelude to Richard Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier."

The album also includes the first recording of music from Paul Czinner's 1936 adaptation of As You Like It. The music is not dissimilar to Walton's later film music, while showing some obvious influences. The "Waterfall Scene" sounds like Ravel's Daphnis and Chloe crossed with Ferde Grofé. As with Henry V and The Battle of Britain, Laurence Olivier was the lead in the film.

The final selection on the LP is a March from A History of the English-Speaking Peoples, a television series based on Churchill's book. It too was not used, although the music is delightful. In his sleeve notes, Christopher Palmer says it is more reminiscent of Eric Coates than Elgar, but it is easy to detect the influence of Walton's Elgarian "Orb and Sceptre" March.

The early digital sound on the LP, recorded at Abbey Road, is quite good, and the performances by the London Philharmonic are excellent. The 1986 recording was issued on CD as well as LP, but my transfer is from the latter. The cover of my LP was damaged, so there is some patching involved on the back cover to make it readable. The download includes several reviews.

Carl Davis (1936-2023) was an American-born British composer who wrote scores for a huge number of television programs and films, e.g., Pride and Prejudice for TV and The French Lieutenant's Woman for the big screen. He also wrote much concert music, including several ballet scores.