Belshazzar's Feast (Walton)

Babylon was a great city, Her merchandise was of gold and silver, Of precious stones, of pearls, of fine linen, Of purple, silk and scarlet, All manner vessels of ivory, All manner vessels of most precious wood, Of brass, iron and marble, Cinnamon, odours and ointments, Of frankincense, wine and oil, Fine flour, wheat and beasts, Sheep, horses, chariots, slaves And the souls of men.

Belshazzar, whiles he tasted the wine, Commanded us to bring the gold and silver vessels: Yea!

He commanded us to bring the golden vessels Of the temple of the house of God, That the King, his Princes, his wives And his concubines might drink therein.

Belshazzar whiles he tasted the wine Commanded us to bring the gold and silver vessels That his Princes, his wives and his concubines Might rejoice and drink therein.

The rhythms and harmonies reflect Walton's interest in jazz and other popular music pressed into service to tell a religious story.

Walton's biographer Michael Kennedy writes, "diatonicism is at the root of the matter ... string tremolandi, brass fanfares, and masterly use of unaccompanied declaration work their customary spell.

"[2] Kennedy adds that the chilling orchestral sounds which introduce the writing on the wall derive from Richard Strauss's Salome.

After a brief, recited introduction, the chorus and baritone sing of their homeland Zion, in an emotional setting of Psalm 137 (By the waters of Babylon, there we sat down: yea, we wept), and angrily express their bitterness toward their captors.

The people celebrate their freedom, in a joyous song of praise interrupted by a lament over the fall of a great city (derived from Psalm 81 and the Book of Revelation).

The chorus represents the Jewish people throughout, although they adopt the tone of the Babylonians when telling the story of the feast.

Walton struggled with the setting for several years, and it grew from its original conception as a short work for small forces, as commissioned by the BBC, to its eventual form.

The invitation had come in a letter of 21 August 1929 from the BBC programme planner Edward Clark, who asked Walton for a work suitable for broadcasting, written for a small choir, soloist, and an orchestra not exceeding 15 players.

[6] This was an age of gifted amateur choruses, and conductors and institutions dedicated to bringing forward new music, and the Leeds Festival took on the first performance.

[9] Under the baton of Malcolm Sargent, an outstanding choral conductor, it was an immediate success, despite its severe challenges to the chorus.

Not only British conductors from Sargent to Simon Rattle, but also Eugene Ormandy, Maurice Abravanel, André Previn, Robert Shaw, Leonard Slatkin and Andrew Litton have recorded the work.