Overview
Introduction
Before the premiere performance of William Walton's Partita for Orchestra by the Cleveland Orchestra in January 1958, conductor George Szell wrote the composer requesting that he supply some explanatory program notes for the piece. Walton politely declined to write about the piece. "It is surely easier to write about a piece of creative work if there is something problematical about it," wrote Walton. "Indeed -- it seems to me -- the more problematical, the greater the flow of words. Unfortunately from this point of view, my Partita poses no problems, has no ulterior motive or meaning behind it, and makes no attempt to ponder the imponderables." Just as Walton describes, there is nothing in this work that draws particular attention to itself: it calls for standard orchestral forces, runs about 17 minutes, and the contrasts and moods employed articulate familiar expressive designs. Walton's typical nonchalance should not be taken as indifference, however; in this work, as in others, his goal is communicative expression rather that compositional innovation, and though the Partita breaks little new ground, it traverses familiar terrain gracefully and enjoyably.
In fact, Walton chose the term partita for the title (as opposed to symphony or sinfonietta) in part to temper any expectations of monumentality that one might hold when approaching a multimovement work for orchestra. Altering the model from Bach's time, Walton whittled the traditional six movements of the partita structure down to three, retaining the introductory toccata and the gigue finale. These two quick outer movements (with tempo markings Brioso and Allegro giovale, respectively) frame a more mellow inner movement, a Pastorale Siciliana marked Andante comodo.
The first movement is characterized by constant motion, with repeated chord alternations passing throughout the orchestra. The music seems made entirely of gestures and textures, haphazardly leaping and diving from instrument to instrument before we get a chance to hang our hat on specific tunes. Walton highlights this variegated contour with colorful orchestration, particularly in his exclamatory use of the brass and percussion. The middle movement begins with a plaintively beautiful and unaccompanied duet between a solo viola and solo oboe. This sense of fragility is maintained even as other instruments are added: the bassoon's and English horn's lyrical answers to the oboe's earlier song find counterpoint in a mysteriously ascending triplet figure in the strings; a violin solo takes place against a pale backdrop of plucked strings and hushed chords. The mischievous staccato lines with which the low strings and winds begin the final movement embody its subtitle, Giga Burlesca. The modified rondo form familiarizes us with several thematic characters whose repetitions and altercations make them more singably memorable than the fragments with which the first movement was composed. Here in the finale, rhapsodic and regal passages compete with chromatic diversions, punchy outbursts from the percussion section, and the delightfully ostentatious oom-pah moments with which Walton ends the work.
Parts/Movements
- Toccata. Brioso
- Pastorale siciliana. Andante comodo
- Giga burlesca. Allegro gioviale
