String Quartet No. 1

General Information – Instrumentation – Manuscript – Publication – Recordings 

General Information:

Composition:
1920–1. Revised, and the second movement added, 1922. Completed 23 November 1922.

First Performance, Original Version:
Friday, 4 March 1921. Probably at 19 Berners Street, London. The Pennington String Quartet: John Pennington violin, Kenneth Skeaping violin, Bernard Shore viola, Edward Robinson cello. First concert of the London Contemporary Music Centre.

First Performance, Final Version:
Thursday, 5 July 1923. Royal College of Music, London. The McCullagh String Quartet: Isobel McCullagh violin, Gertrude Newsham violin, Helen Rawdon Briggs viola, Mary McCullagh cello.

Duration:
About 33 minutes

Movements:

Dedication:
The manuscript, but not the published score, is inscribed: "for Bumps from William, September 28th 1936."
[The reference to "Bumps" is to Hyam Greenbaum (1901–42), who helped Walton in the orchestration of his early film scores.]

Craggs Catalogue Number:
C11

Instrumentation:

2 violins, viola, cello

Manuscript:

Frederick R. Koch Collection. Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University. Manuscript FRKF 590. Autograph manuscript score. Incomplete, lacking pp. 48–51 of final movement. Signed 'WTW Amalfi (23.11.22)'. 132 pages.

Publication:

Oxford University Press. Score and parts are available on hire only.

Recordings:

WilliamWalton.net – Catalogue of Works – Chamber Music