Symphony No. 2

The Symphony No. 2 by William Walton was written between 1957 and 1960, and premiered in September 1960. It received a mixed reception at first: some critics thought Walton's music old-fashioned. Subsequently it has been re-evaluated and praised. The work was first performed by the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by John Pritchard and was first recorded by the Cleveland Orchestra, conducted by George Szell. It has subsequently been recorded by conductors from Britain, the US and elsewhere. Background and first performances Walton's First Symphony, described by one critic as "an emotional blockbuster", performed in full for the first time in 1935, was one of the works that had marked him out as a leading British composer. By the 1950s his music remained popular with the public but was regarded by many critics as old-fashioned. The commission for a second symphony came in 1956, when the Liverpool Philharmonic Society invited him to compose the work to mark the 750th anniversary, the following year, of the granting of the first charter of incorporation to Liverpool, by King John. Walton could not begin work on the piece immediately, being occupied with writing his Cello Concerto for Gregor Piatigorsky. A slow worker, Walton missed the deadline for the 1957 anniversary celebrations, and it was not until November of that year that he found "glimmerings of the Symph are beginning to stir slightly". It was not until January 1959 that he completed the first movement; the middle, slow movement was written during January and February 1960 and the finale was completed in July. The city of Liverpool authorities agreed that as the work was finished too late for the anniversary it could be premiered at the Edinburgh Festival, provided the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra played it there. The orchestra's chief conductor, John Pritchard, conducted the premiere at the Usher Hall, Edinburgh on 2 September 1960. The same forces gave the London premiere at a Royal Philharmonic Society concert at the Royal Festival Hall on 23 November 1960. George Szell and the Concertgebouw Orchestra gave the European continental premiere in Amsterdam on 19 November 1960. Szell conducted the American premiere of the work on 29 December 1960 with the Cleveland Orchestra at Severance Hall, Cleveland, and the New York premiere in February 1961. A few months later Szell and the Cleveland Orchestra made the first recording.