Sinfonia Concertante (Walton)
The Sinfonia Concertante is a work for orchestra with prominent piano solo written by British composer Sir William Walton. It was commissioned by the Royal Philharmonic Society for their 150th anniversary in 1927 and premiered on January 5, 1928, at Queen's Hall in London. The pianist was Arthur Rubinstein, and the orchestra was the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Ernest Ansermet.
The work, initially not well-received, underwent significant revisions. Walton withdrew it from performance shortly after the premiere. He reworked the piece extensively, and the revised version was premiered in 1943 by the Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra under Constant Lambert, with Phyllis Sellick as the soloist. This revised version is the one most commonly performed today.
The Sinfonia Concertante is generally considered to be a transitional work in Walton's oeuvre, bridging the gap between his earlier, more overtly modernist style and his later, more romantic approach. It exhibits a blend of neoclassical and romantic elements.
The piece is typically structured in three movements:
- Allegro spiritoso
- Andante tranquillo
- Allegro giocoso
The work showcases the piano not as a virtuoso solo instrument in the traditional concerto sense, but rather as an integral part of the orchestral texture, weaving in and out of the overall soundscape. The interplay between the piano and the orchestra is a defining feature of the piece.