The English composer William Walton wrote the music for fourteen films between 1934 and 1969. He often had the musical assistance of Hyam Greenbaum and later Roy Douglas who orchestrated short sections of the music under Walton's supervision. In general, Walton disapproved of the performance of his film music in the concert hall or on record: "Film music is not good film music if it can be used for any other purpose". But he was willing to make limited exceptions, and he allowed concert and recorded performances of some of his film music, notably that for Henry V, Hamlet and Richard III. For EMI he conducted the suites Muir Mathieson arranged from the first and third of these scores. After Walton's death the musicologist Christopher Palmer constructed suites from several others of his film scores.

William Walton's compositions from the 1930s to the 1960s included incidental music for fourteen films. His score for the 1936 film of As You Like It has been arranged for concert hall and recording studio purposes by Carl Davis (1986) and Christopher Palmer (1989).

Capriccio burlesco is an orchestral work by Sir William Walton, written between May and September 1968 at his home in Ischia, Italy. It was commissioned by the New York Philharmonic in celebration of its 125th anniversary, and was dedicated to Andre Kostelanetz, who conducted the first performance on 7 December 1968 at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, New York City. Kostelanetz also made the premiere recording of the work, with the New York Philharmonic. The work lasts about 7 minutes and is exuberant, bustling and jaunty.

William Walton's Cello Concerto (1957) is the third and last of the composer's concertos for string instruments, following his Viola Concerto (1929) and Violin Concerto (1939). It was written between February and October 1956, commissioned by and dedicated to the cellist Gregor Piatigorsky, the soloist at the premiere in Boston on 25 January 1957. Initial responses to the work were mixed. Some reviewers thought the work old-fashioned, and others called it a masterpiece. Piatigorsky predicted that it would enter the international concert repertoire, and his recording has been followed by numerous others by soloists from four continents.

Sir William Turner Walton (29 March 1902 – 8 March 1983) was an English composer. During a sixty-year career, he wrote music in several classical genres and styles, from film scores to opera. His best-known works include Façade, the cantata Belshazzar's Feast, the Viola Concerto, the First Symphony, and the British coronation marches Crown Imperial and Orb and Sceptre. Born in Lancashire, the son of a classical musician, Walton was a chorister and then an undergraduate at Christ Church, Oxford. On leaving the university, he was taken up by the literary Sitwell siblings, who provided him with a home and a cultural education. His earliest work of note was a collaboration with Edith Sitwell, Façade, which at first brought him notoriety as a modernist, but later became a popular ballet score. In middle age, Walton left England and set up home with his young wife Susana on the Italian island of Ischia. By this time, he had ceased to be regarded as a modernist, and some of his compositions of the 1950s were criticised as old-fashioned. His only full-length opera, Troilus and Cressida, was among the works to be so labelled and has made little impact in opera houses. In his last years, his works came back into critical fashion; his later compositions, dismissed by critics at the time of their premieres, were revalued and regarded alongside his earlier works. Walton was a slow worker, painstakingly perfectionist, and his complete body of work across his long career is not large. His most popular compositions continue to be frequently performed in the 21st century.

Crown Imperial is an orchestral march by William Walton, commissioned for the coronation of King George VI in Westminster Abbey in 1937. It is in the Pomp and Circumstance tradition, with a brisk opening contrasting with a broad middle section, leading to a resounding conclusion. The work has been heard at subsequent state occasions in the Abbey: the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953, the wedding of Prince William in 2011 and the coronation of King Charles III in 2023. It has been recorded in its original orchestral form and in arrangements for organ, military band and brass band.

William Walton's music for the 1944 film Henry V has been arranged by several musicians for non-cinematic performances. The first suite was arranged in 1945 by the conductor Malcolm Sargent. In 1963 Muir Mathieson, who had conducted the music for the original film soundtrack, arranged a longer suite, and in 1988 the musicologist Christopher Palmer constructed an hour-long "Shakespeare Scenario" using most of the music Walton composed for the film.

Façade is a series of poems by Edith Sitwell, best known as part of Façade – An Entertainment in which the poems are recited over an instrumental accompaniment by William Walton. The poems and the music exist in several versions. Sitwell began to publish some of the Façade poems in 1918, in the literary magazine Wheels. In 1922 many of them were given an orchestral accompaniment by Walton, Sitwell's protégé. The "entertainment" was first performed in public on 12 June 1923 at the Aeolian Hall in London, and achieved both fame and notoriety for its unconventional form. Walton arranged two suites of his music for full orchestra. When Frederick Ashton made a ballet of Façade in 1931, Sitwell did not wish her poems to be part of it, and the orchestral arrangements were used. After Sitwell's death, Walton published supplementary versions of Façade for speaker and small ensemble using numbers dropped between the premiere and the publication of the full score in 1951.

Façade is a series of poems by Edith Sitwell, best known as part of Façade – An Entertainment in which the poems are recited over an instrumental accompaniment by William Walton. The poems and the music exist in several versions. Sitwell began to publish some of the Façade poems in 1918, in the literary magazine Wheels. In 1922 many of them were given an orchestral accompaniment by Walton, Sitwell's protégé. The "entertainment" was first performed in public on 12 June 1923 at the Aeolian Hall in London, and achieved both fame and notoriety for its unconventional form. Walton arranged two suites of his music for full orchestra. When Frederick Ashton made a ballet of Façade in 1931, Sitwell did not wish her poems to be part of it, and the orchestral arrangements were used. After Sitwell's death, Walton published supplementary versions of Façade for speaker and small ensemble using numbers dropped between the premiere and the publication of the full score in 1951.

Façade is a series of poems by Edith Sitwell, best known as part of Façade – An Entertainment in which the poems are recited over an instrumental accompaniment by William Walton. The poems and the music exist in several versions. Sitwell began to publish some of the Façade poems in 1918, in the literary magazine Wheels. In 1922 many of them were given an orchestral accompaniment by Walton, Sitwell's protégé. The "entertainment" was first performed in public on 12 June 1923 at the Aeolian Hall in London, and achieved both fame and notoriety for its unconventional form. Walton arranged two suites of his music for full orchestra. When Frederick Ashton made a ballet of Façade in 1931, Sitwell did not wish her poems to be part of it, and the orchestral arrangements were used. After Sitwell's death, Walton published supplementary versions of Façade for speaker and small ensemble using numbers dropped between the premiere and the publication of the full score in 1951.

The Walton family is an American family whose collective fortune derived from Walmart which in-turn makes them the second-richest family in the world.

The English composer William Walton wrote the music for fourteen films between 1934 and 1969. He often had the musical assistance of Hyam Greenbaum and later Roy Douglas who orchestrated short sections of the music under Walton's supervision. In general, Walton disapproved of the performance of his film music in the concert hall or on record: "Film music is not good film music if it can be used for any other purpose". But he was willing to make limited exceptions, and he allowed concert and recorded performances of some of his film music, notably that for Henry V, Hamlet and Richard III. For EMI he conducted the suites Muir Mathieson arranged from the first and third of these scores. After Walton's death the musicologist Christopher Palmer constructed suites from several others of his film scores.

Samuel Alexander Joseph West (born 19 June 1966) is an English actor, theatre director, and narrator. He has directed on stage and radio, and worked as an actor in theatre, film, television, and radio. West was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his portrayal of Leonard Bast in the Merchant Ivory film adaptation of E. M. Forster's novel Howards End (1992), and was later nominated for the Genie Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role for his portrayal of the title role in Rupert's Land (1998). In 2010, he was nominated for the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of Jeffrey Skilling in Lucy Prebble's Enron. He has appeared as reciter with orchestras and performed at the Last Night of the Proms. He has narrated several documentary series, including five for the BBC about the Second World War. West currently stars as Siegfried Farnon in the Channel 5 remake of the veterinary drama series All Creatures Great and Small.

William Walton's music for the 1944 film Henry V has been arranged by several musicians for non-cinematic performances. The first suite was arranged in 1945 by the conductor Malcolm Sargent. In 1963 Muir Mathieson, who had conducted the music for the original film soundtrack, arranged a longer suite, and in 1988 the musicologist Christopher Palmer constructed an hour-long "Shakespeare Scenario" using most of the music Walton composed for the film.

Improvisations on an Impromptu of Benjamin Britten is an orchestral piece by William Walton. It was first performed by the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Josef Krips, on 14 January 1970. Its European premiere was at Benjamin Britten's Aldeburgh Festival in June of that year. The work has subsequently been recorded for commercial release.

Johannesburg Festival Overture is a composition for orchestra by the English composer William Walton, commissioned to mark the seventieth anniversary of Johannesburg in 1956. It is a short, lively piece, fast-moving throughout.

Fleance ( FLAY-onss; also spelled Fléance or Fleans; Latin: Fleanchus) is a figure in legendary Scottish history. He was depicted by 16th-century historians as the son of Lord Banquo, Thane of Lochaber, and the ancestor of the kings of the House of Stuart. Fleance is best known as a character in William Shakespeare's play Macbeth, in which the Three Witches prophesy that Banquo's descendants shall be kings. Some screen adaptations of the story expand on Fleance's role by showing his return to the kingdom after Macbeth's death. Shakespeare's play is adapted from Holinshed's Chronicles, a history of the British Isles written during the late 16th century. In Holinshed, Fleance escapes Macbeth and flees to England, where he fathers a son who later becomes the first hereditary steward to the King of Scotland. In real life, 'Steward' eventually became the name 'Stewart' (later changed to a pseudo Frenchification 'Stuart'), and Walter Stewart married Princess Marjorie, daughter of Robert the Bruce. Their son, Robert II, began the Stewart/Stuart line of kings in Scotland. James VI and I, son of Mary, Queen of Scots, was the ninth Stewart/Stuart monarch (eighth king) of Scotland and the first of the Stuart monarchs of England and Ireland. James VI & I was the reigning monarch when William Shakespeare wrote and produced Macbeth, which may have been in the new king's honour.

Major Barbara is a 1941 British film starring Wendy Hiller and Rex Harrison. The film was produced and directed by Gabriel Pascal and edited by David Lean. It was adapted for the screen by Marjorie Deans and Anatole de Grunwald, based on the 1905 stage play Major Barbara by George Bernard Shaw. It was both a critical and a financial success.

This is a list of compositions by William Walton sorted by genre, date of composition, title, and scoring.

Sir William Turner Walton (29 March 1902 – 8 March 1983) was an English composer. During a sixty-year career, he wrote music in several classical genres and styles, from film scores to opera. His best-known works include Façade, the cantata Belshazzar's Feast, the Viola Concerto, the First Symphony, and the British coronation marches Crown Imperial and Orb and Sceptre. Born in Lancashire, the son of a classical musician, Walton was a chorister and then an undergraduate at Christ Church, Oxford. On leaving the university, he was taken up by the literary Sitwell siblings, who provided him with a home and a cultural education. His earliest work of note was a collaboration with Edith Sitwell, Façade, which at first brought him notoriety as a modernist, but later became a popular ballet score. In middle age, Walton left England and set up home with his young wife Susana on the Italian island of Ischia. By this time, he had ceased to be regarded as a modernist, and some of his compositions of the 1950s were criticised as old-fashioned. His only full-length opera, Troilus and Cressida, was among the works to be so labelled and has made little impact in opera houses. In his last years, his works came back into critical fashion; his later compositions, dismissed by critics at the time of their premieres, were revalued and regarded alongside his earlier works. Walton was a slow worker, painstakingly perfectionist, and his complete body of work across his long career is not large. His most popular compositions continue to be frequently performed in the 21st century.

In Ancient Near Eastern cosmology, the firmament was a celestial barrier that separated the Heavenly waters above from the Earth below. In Biblical cosmology, the firmament (Hebrew: רָקִ֫יעַ‎ rāqīaʿ) was the vast solid dome created by God during the Genesis creation narrative to separate the primal sea into upper and lower portions so that the dry land could appear. The concept was adopted into the subsequent Classical and Medieval models of heavenly spheres, but was dropped with advances in astronomy in the 16th and 17th centuries. Today the word is sometimes used as a synonym for the sky or for heaven.

A partita (also partie, partia, parthia, or parthie; a term borrowed from the Italian word partita) closely resembles the dance suites of the Baroque Period; the word often occurs as a synonym of suite and variation with the addition of a prelude movement at the beginning of each partita. It was originally the name for a single-instrumental piece of music (16th and 17th centuries), but Johann Kuhnau (Thomaskantor at Leipzig until 1722), his student Christoph Graupner (1683-1760), and Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750) used it for collections of musical pieces, as a synonym for "suite". In the early Baroque period, the term partita referred to a string of variations or a piece in parts that reflected different dances.

Portsmouth Point is an overture for orchestra by the English composer William Walton, composed in 1925. The work was inspired by Rowlandson's print depicting Portsmouth Point. Walton recalled that the main musical had come into his mind whilst riding on a route 22 bus in London. Walton dedicated the score to the poet Siegfried Sassoon, who had recommended that Oxford University Press publish the score. The score was first published in piano-duet form in 1925. The full orchestral score was published in 1928. The overture was selected for performance at the 1926 International Society for Contemporary Music festival, and received its first performance in Zürich on 22 June 1926, conducted by Volkmar Andreae. The first London performance was on 28 June 1926, with Eugene Goossens conducting the overture as an interval work in the midst of a Diaghilev ballet performance. Walton himself conducted the overture at The Proms in 1927. Constant Lambert later prepared a version of the overture, with a reduced orchestration, from Walton's original, and also with simplified time signatures. Lambert first conducted this version in 1932. Portsmouth Point depicts in musical form the rumbustious life of British 18th century sailors. Commentators have noted the influence of Igor Stravinsky's music and of jazz in the rhythms of the score, as well as the rhythm of the Catalan sardana dance. In 1953, Walton briefly quoted this work in his contribution to the collaborative work Variations on an Elizabethan Theme.

William Walton received a commission for an original composition from Granada Television in June 1961. Walton delivered the work in August 1962 as Granada Prelude, Call Signs and End Music. The music was never used by Granada. The company turned the piece over to Gilbert Vinter to convert the prelude into a march for symphonic wind band. With Vinter's arrangement, it was transmitted at the beginning of each day's broadcast from 1965 until September 1973. The work features stretches of piano or pianissimo scoring allowing announcements to be superimposed. Walton also included a "big tune", similar to ones found in Crown Imperial, Orb and Sceptre, and the Spitfire Prelude.

This is a list of compositions by William Walton sorted by genre, date of composition, title, and scoring.

Scapino is a short work for large orchestra by William Walton, described by the composer as a "comedy overture". It was commissioned by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and was first performed in 1941. A revised version was premiered in 1950.

Siesta is a short piece for small orchestra, written by William Walton and premiered in 1926. It was later used for a ballet by Frederick Ashton. Walton was a devotee of Italy, and its influence is apparent in this work.

This list of compositions includes all the published works by English composer Benjamin Britten with opus number.

B-flat minor is a minor scale based on B♭, consisting of the pitches B♭, C, D♭, E♭, F, G♭, and A♭. Its key signature has five flats. Its relative major is D-flat major and its parallel major is B-flat major. Its enharmonic equivalent, A-sharp minor, which would contain seven sharps, is not normally used. The B-flat natural minor scale is: Changes needed for the melodic and harmonic versions of the scale are written in with accidentals as necessary. The B-flat harmonic minor and melodic minor scales are:

William Walton composed his Symphony No. 2 between 1957 and 1960. It was commissioned in November 1955 by the Liverpool Philharmonic Society and was originally intended to commemorate in 1957 the 750th anniversary of the city of Liverpool's royal charter of 1207. Walton, although a diligent worker, did not habitually compose quickly. In addition, existing commissions and other challenges further delayed the completion of the symphony. He finished the first movement in 1959, then the last two in 1960; that same year, he revised the first into its final form. By the time the symphony was completed, the occasion for which it was composed had passed. The city of Liverpool agreed to cede the location of the world premiere to the Edinburgh Festival, with the proviso that it be played by the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic. Conducted by John Pritchard, they performed the world premiere at the Usher Hall in Edinburgh, on 2 September 1960. Walton perceived the initial critical reaction to his Second Symphony as a disaster. Twenty-five years had passed since he had composed his First Symphony. Expectations among British critics that the Second Symphony would surpass its predecessor were high. Instead, they were largely disappointed by the work's lighter mood and conservative idiom. Neville Cardus accused the composer of synthesising compositional tropes that he had previously employed. Peter Heyworth praised Walton's aesthetic convictions but criticised the composer for failing to develop and for stereotyping his own style. The symphony met with a more favourable response in the United States. George Szell, the music director of the Cleveland Orchestra, had championed Walton's music since the 1930s. On 29 December 1960 he conducted the American premiere of the Second Symphony at Severance Hall in Cleveland, Ohio. Early in 1961 the Cleveland Orchestra recorded for Epic Records what Szell hoped to be the definitive recording of the symphony. He later said that its success was crucial in goading British critics to re-examine the work. "[Walton] had felt that Edinburgh had almost killed his new work", the composer's wife wrote, "and now Szell had caused it to be reborn". On Szell's death in 1970, Walton rededicated his Second Symphony to the conductor's memory as a gesture of gratitude.

Battle of Britain is a 1969 British war film documenting the events of the Battle of Britain, the war for aerial supremacy between the German Luftwaffe and the defending Royal Air Force waged over British skies during summer of 1940. The nature of the subject drew many respected British actors to accept roles as key figures of the battle, including Laurence Olivier as Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh Dowding, Trevor Howard as Air Vice-Marshal Keith Park, and Patrick Wymark as Air Vice-Marshal Trafford Leigh-Mallory. Directed by Guy Hamilton and produced by Harry Saltzman and S. Benjamin Fisz, it also starred Michael Caine, Christopher Plummer, and Robert Shaw as Squadron Leaders. The script by James Kennaway and Wilfred Greatorex was based on the book The Narrow Margin by Derek Wood and Derek Dempster. The film endeavoured to be a generally accurate account of the Battle of Britain, when in the summer and autumn of 1940 the British RAF inflicted a strategic defeat on the Luftwaffe and so ensured the cancellation of Operation Sea Lion, Adolf Hitler's plan to invade Britain. The film is notable for its spectacular flying sequences. It was on a far larger scale than had been seen on film before, or since, making the film's production very expensive.

The First of the Few (US title Spitfire) is a 1942 British black-and-white biographical film produced and directed by Leslie Howard, who stars as R. J. Mitchell, the designer of the Supermarine Spitfire fighter aircraft. David Niven co-stars as a Royal Air Force officer and test pilot, a composite character who represents the pilots who flew Mitchell's seaplanes and tested the Spitfire. The film depicts Mitchell's strong work ethic in designing the Spitfire and his death. The film's title alludes to Winston Churchill's speech describing Battle of Britain aircrew, subsequently known as the Few: "Never was so much owed by so many to so few". The film premiered at the Leicester Square Theatre in London at 6.30pm on Thurs 30 August 1942, as a charity performance in aid of the RAF Benevolent Fund. Leslie Howard's portrayal of Mitchell has a special significance since Howard was killed when the Lisbon-to-London civilian airliner in which he was travelling was shot down by the Luftwaffe on 1 June 1943. His death occurred only days before The First of the Few was released in the United States on 12 June 1943, under the alternative title of Spitfire.

The Waltons is an American television series that aired for nine seasons (1972–1981) on the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS-TV) network. A further six made-for-TV reunion movies were made and aired in the following 1980s and 1990s. Below is a list of the series / films various principal characters and the actors who played them.

Troilus and Cressida is the first of the two operas by William Walton, and was premiered in 1954. The libretto was by Christopher Hassall, his own first opera libretto, based on Geoffrey Chaucer's poem Troilus and Criseyde. Walton dedicated the score to his wife, Susana.

William Walton's Variations on a Theme by Hindemith is an orchestral piece in eleven continuous sections, first performed in 1963. It is a tribute to Walton's friend and fellow composer Paul Hindemith.

Variations on an Elizabethan Theme (also seen as Variations on Sellinger's Round) is a set of variations for string orchestra, written collaboratively in 1952 by six English composers: Lennox Berkeley, Benjamin Britten, Arthur Oldham, Humphrey Searle, Michael Tippett and William Walton. Imogen Holst also played an important role in orchestrating the overall work, but she did not write a variation of her own. The variations were written to celebrate the forthcoming coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in June 1953. (Benjamin Britten also wrote his opera Gloriana in honour of this occasion.)

The Viola Concerto by William Walton was written in 1929 and first performed at the Queen's Hall, London on 3 October of that year by Paul Hindemith as soloist and the composer conducting. It had been written with the violist Lionel Tertis in mind, and he took the work up after initially rejecting it. The concerto established Walton as a substantial figure in British music and has been recorded by leading violists internationally. Walton revised the instrumentation of the concerto in 1961, lightening the orchestral textures.

The Violin Concerto by William Walton was written in 1938–39 and dedicated to Jascha Heifetz, who commissioned the work and performed it at its premiere on 7 December 1939 with the Cleveland Orchestra conducted by Artur Rodziński. The British premiere, delayed by the Second World War, was given on 1 November 1941, with Henry Holst as soloist and the composer conducting. Walton later reorchestrated the concerto; the revised version was premiered in 1944. The work has been frequently recorded and has established itself as one of the composer's most durable compositions.