[8] He had a natural affinity for chamber music and a long association with the South Place Sunday Concert series for which he wrote programme notes.
[11][12] Walthew's early works were larger scale choral and orchestral pieces such as the Clarinet and Piano Concertos[13] and the Aladdin overture (1899).
His "somewhat Gilbertian" one act operetta The Enchanted Island, loosely based on The Tempest, was composed in 1900 and received many performances, including a revival in the early 1930s with the BBC Theatre Orchestra conducted by John Ansell.
[16] His most successful chamber work was the Phantasy Quintet for piano, violin, viola, cello and double bass, commissioned by the Worshipful Company of Musicians, dedicated to Walter Cobbett and published by Stainer and Bell in 1912.
[18][19] The Prelude and Fugue (1945), originally written for strings, later transcribed for two clarinets and bassoon, has been reissued in recent times and recorded by The Trio Pleyel.