Walton, Sir William.

notated in ink several scribal hands, with extensive corrections, additions, deletions and revisions, a number of emended passages entered on strips of manuscript paper and laid down, including many pencil performance markings



4 volumes, 25 [violin I], 21 [violin II], 17 [viola], 17 [violoncello] pages, plus blanks, 4to (29.5 x 23.5cm), original printed wrappers, no place, c.1922-1923?, some gatherings loose 

Condition is described in the main body of the cataloguing, where appropriate.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

an important, apparently unrecorded, source for walton's first string quartet, containing lost music

Walton's String Quartet No.1 was composed in 1920-1921 and first performed in London on 4 March 1921 by the Pennington String Quartet. The work was revised, and a second movement added, in 1922, the work played for the first time in this form by the McCullagh String Quartet at the Royal College of Music on 5 July 1923.  The quartet, here in its final form, is written in a modern, dissonant, idiom and is surprisingly experimental.

The autograph score of the work, lacking pages 48-51 of the finale, is preserved in the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University.  The present manuscript parts contain this missing music and for the first time Walton's exciting and original composition can be heard in its complete form.  The quartet was later withdrawn by Walton: a later quartet dates from 1945-1947.