Johannesburg Festival Overture - Walton (Full Orchestral Score Video)

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\\ William Walton described his Johannesburg Festival Overture as a "non-stop gallop" – and that fits perfectly with this performance of the Overture by the English Northern Philharmonia with Paul Daniel available here from naxos: https://www.naxos.com/catalogue/item....

Sir William Turner Walton (1902 - 1983) composed his Johannesburg Festival Overture in 1956 on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the South African city of Johannesburg. The wish was that the commissioned composition should include "African themes". Walton, who was a master of orchestral music and had also written film scores, fulfilled the commission, among other things, by using the main theme of the piece Masanga in his concert overture (04:06 and 07:01). Masanga was composed by the Congolese composer Jean-Bosco Mwenda (also: Mwenda wa Bayeke), who was popular in many African countries at the time. The premiere of the Johannesburg Festival Overture took place on September 25, 1956 at the City Hall in Johannesburg. That same year, the catchy Johannesburg Overture was also performed in Walton's native Great Britain. He subsequently reworked it several more times.

The score was ripped from the New York Phil. archives and has been heavily annotated (and unfortunately abridged) by Andre Kostelanetz who conducted the USA premiere. https://archives.nyphil.org/index.php...