Walton, Sir William
Walton, Sir William (1902–83),English composer. A youthful setting of ‘Tell me, where is Fancy bred?’ (The Merchant of Venice) dates from 1916, and he apparently also set ‘Where the bee sucks’ (The Tempest), though this is no longer extant. However, Walton is most remembered for his splendid scores for films starring Laurence Olivier. The first of these was As You Like It (1936), from which was published separately ‘Under the Greenwood Tree’. The later Shakespearian film scores, all directed and produced by Olivier, were Henry V (1943–4), Hamlet (1947), and Richard III (1955). Walton also composed incidental music for a production of Macbeth (first performed at the Opera House, Manchester, on 16 January 1942). His opera Troilus and Cressida (1954, and later revisions) is based on Chaucer rather than Shakespeare.
Irena Cholij
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