Sir William Walton was born in Oldham, Lancashire in 1902, the son of a choirmaster and a singing-teacher. He became a chorister at Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford, and then an undergraduate at the University. His first composition to attract attention was a piano quartet written at the age of sixteen. At Oxford he made the acquaintance of the Sitwells who gave him friendship, moral and financial support and in 1922 he collaborated with Edith in devising the
entertainment Façade. Less than ten years later, Osbert prepared the text of another masterwork, Belshazzar's Feast. From 1922 to 1927 Walton began to spend an increasing amount of time abroad, notably in Switzerland and Italy. The war years were devoted mainly to writing film and ballet scores and he became
established as amongst the greatest composers for the screen.
Following a teaching career as Director of Music at Radley College, Oxfordshire and Glenalmond College, Perthshire, Robert Gower is currently Organist of St Barnabas Cathedral, Nottingham. His commitment to English twentieth-century composition is reflected through his founding and leadership of the Percy Whitlock Trust until its copyright income ceased, and in his Chairmanship of the Gerald Finzi Charitable Trust. In addition to editorship of OUP's Finzi and Walton organ albums, he is the
compiler of Oxford organ collections of both seasonal and teaching repertoire.
