''The Quest'' is a ballet score by William Walton, written for a ballet of the same title, now lost, choreographed by

Frederick Ashton Sir Frederick William Mallandaine Ashton (17 September 190418 August 1988) was a British ballet dancer and choreographer. He also worked as a director and choreographer in opera, film and revue. Determined to be a dancer despite the oppositi ...

in 1943. Two versions of the score exist: one for the small orchestra for which Walton wrote (because of wartime constraints), and a posthumously constructed version rescored for an orchestra of the larger size usually favoured by the composer. The ballet, with a scenario by

Doris Langley Moore Doris Langley Moore (1902–1989), also known as Doris Langley-Levy Moore, was one of the first important female fashion historians. She founded the Fashion Museum, Bath (as The Museum of Costume), in 1963. She was also a well-respected Lord B ...

, was based on '' The Faerie Queene'' by

Edmund Spenser Edmund Spenser (; 1552/1553 – 13 January 1599) was an English poet best known for ''The Faerie Queene'', an epic poem and fantastical allegory celebrating the Tudor dynasty and Elizabeth I. He is recognized as one of the premier craftsmen of ...

. It was first given by the Sadler's Wells Ballet company.

Background and first performances

By the 1940s Walton was an established composer, known for works including a

symphony A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, most often for orchestra. Although the term has had many meanings from its origins in the ancient Greek era, by the late 18th century the word had taken on the meaning com ...

, three concertos, the

cantata A cantata (; ; literally "sung", past participle feminine singular of the Italian verb ''cantare'', "to sing") is a vocal composition with an instrumental accompaniment, typically in several movements, often involving a choir. The meaning of ...

'' Belshazzar's Feast'' and the "entertainment" ''

Façade A façade () (also written facade) is generally the front part or exterior of a building. It is a Loanword, loan word from the French language, French (), which means 'frontage' or 'face'. In architecture, the façade of a building is often t ...

''. From the last, he had fashioned two orchestral suites, which the choreographer

used for his 1931 ballet ''

''. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Walton worked with the

Army Film Unit The Army Film and Photographic Unit was a subdivision of the British armed forces set up on 24 October 1941, to record military events in which the British and Commonwealth armies was engaged. During the war, almost 23 percent of all AFPU soldier ...

and Ashton was in the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

. Kenneth Clark, an influential figure in the arts world, secured Ashton six weeks' leave of absence from the

Air Ministry The Air Ministry was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the Royal Air Force, that existed from 1918 to 1964. It was under the political authority of the Secretary of State ...

to create a new ballet for the Sadler's Wells company. By 1943 the company was performing mostly away from London, taking ballet round the country, with its dancers, orchestra and backstage staff heavily depleted by wartime conscription. Ashton chose to create what he later called "a piece of wartime propaganda", depicting the triumph of good over evil. He chose a story from '' The Faerie Queene'' by the

Elizabethan The Elizabethan era is the epoch in the Tudor period of the history of England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603). Historians often depict it as the golden age in English history. The symbol of Britannia (a female personifi ...

poet

, and quickly chose his collaborators to get the piece created and staged within six weeks. The scenario was by his friend

, the costumes and scenery by John Piper and the music by Walton. Robert Helpmann played the hero,

Saint George Saint George (Greek: Γεώργιος (Geórgios), Latin: Georgius, Arabic: القديس جرجس; died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was a Christian who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to tradition he was a soldier ...

, opposite Margot Fonteyn as Una, the personification of Truth. Her alter ago, played by

Beryl Grey Dame Beryl Elizabeth Grey (née Groom; 11 June 1927 – 10 December 2022) was a British ballet dancer. Early life Born in Highgate, London, she began dance classes at the age of four while attending Sherbourne Preparatory School, and by age eig ...

, was Duessa, "the scarlet whore", embodying Falsehood. The Seven Deadly Sins led by Pride appear in Scene 3 and holiness returns in the fifth and final scene with Faith, Hope and Charity. Walton's music, composed in great haste, followed the scenario carefully, though without great enthusiasm on his part. A slow and painstaking writer as a rule, he called on

Roy Douglas Richard Roy Douglas (12 December 1907 – 23 March 2015) was an English composer, pianist and arranger. He worked as musical assistant to Ralph Vaughan Williams, William Walton, and Richard Addinsell, made well-known orchestrations of works suc ...

and

Ernest Irving Kelville Ernest Irving (6 November 1878 – 24 October 1953) was an English music director, conductor and composer, primarily remembered as a theatre musician in London between the wars, and for his key contributions to British film music as m ...

to help with the orchestration. He wrote of ''The Quest'' in 1957: The ballet was premiered on 7 April 1943 at the New Theatre in London and then taken out on tour. It was well received at the premiere, and, despite the composer's reservations, was a success, being given 93 performances over the next two years. The ballet historian Geraldine Morris suggests that the work fell out of favour after the war because of its wartime "propagandist, patriotic elements".Morris, p. 181 One critic wrote in 1943 that ''The Quest'' should be seen by everyone, "for as the curtain falls one is tempted to cry with Shakespeare: 'God for Harry, England and St George'". After 1945 the work dropped out of the repertoire and Ashton's choreography is now lost.

Music

Score

The ballet music takes about 40 minutes in performance. The performing edition of the score published by the

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

and edited by John Eric Floreen and

Christopher Palmer Christopher Francis Palmer (9 September 194622 January 1995) was an English composer, arranger and orchestrator; biographer of composers, champion of lesser-known composers and writer on film music and other musical subjects; record producer; and ...

is scored for three flutes (two doubling piccolos), two oboes (one doubling cor anglais), two clarinets, two bassoons, four horns, three trumpets, three trombones, one tuba, two harps, and percussion comprising timpani, glockenspiel, xylophone, tam-tam, cymbals and suspended cymbal, bass drum, side drum, snare drum, tambourine, castanets, triangle, wood block, temple blocks, whip, tubular bells, sleigh bells, and piano, celeste and strings. Walton's score follows the five-scene plot of the ballet.Priory, Hugh (2002). Notes to Naxos CD 8.555868 *Scene I ::Outside the House of Archimago, St George and Una are lost in a storm and fall under the spell of Archimago, who transforms his female servant into an evil alter ego of Una. Spirits flutter menacingly about. St George is duped into thinking Una has been seduced by Archimago's servant, and he leaves in horror. *Scene 2 ::Near the Palace of Pride, three knights Sansloy (Lawless), Sansjoy (Joyless) and Sansfoy (Faithless) dance to compete for the hand of Duessa (Falsehood). St George enters and kills Sansfoy in fight. He leaves with Duessa. Una enters, still searching for St George, then falls asleep. Archimago enters disguised as St George, wakes Una and leaves with her. *Scene 3 ::In the Palace of Pride the Seven Deadly sins display themselves: first Sloth and then Gluttony, Wrath, Lechery, Avarice, Envy and finally Pride (as Queen). St George enters with Duessa. Sansjoy follows him and they fight. Duessa takes Sansjoy's side and is horrified when he is killed. St George, disillusioned, sees the Palace of Pride and Duessa for what they are, and to a dissonant climax he leaves the scene. *Scene 4 ::Near the Palace of Pride Sansloy is mourning his two brothers. Archimago enters, still disguised as St George, and Sansloy kills him. St George enters, kills Sansloy and is reunited with Una. *Scene 5 ::St George brings Una to the House of Holiness. After pledging himself to England he bids farewell to his beloved and departs on his quest, to climactic music. Walton's biographer Michael Kennedy writes of the music of ''The Quest'':

Versions

The score was lost for several years after the war, but the music scholar and critic John Warrack tracked it down to a London warehouse. With Walton's approval the conductor Vilém Tauský extracted a four-movement suite from the score, which Tauský premiered at the

Royal Festival Hall The Royal Festival Hall is a 2,700-seat concert, dance and talks venue within Southbank Centre in London. It is situated on the South Bank of the River Thames, not far from Hungerford Bridge, in the London Borough of Lambeth. It is a Grade I l ...

in June 1961. Walton recorded the suite with the

London Symphony Orchestra The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London. Founded in 1904, the LSO is the oldest of London's orchestras, symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's ...

in 1970. For this suite, about 13 minutes in length, Tauský − with Walton's approval − added extra instruments in the orchestral parts, bringing the originally small orchestra up to more Waltonian proportions. In the late 1980s, the musical scholar Christopher Palmer reconstructed the five-movement ballet score, further amplifying the original sparer orchestration. This version was recorded by the

London Philharmonic Orchestra The London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) is one of five permanent symphony orchestras based in London. It was founded by the conductors Sir Thomas Beecham and Malcolm Sargent in 1932 as a rival to the existing London Symphony and BBC Symphony ...

conducted by Bryden Thomson.Palmer, Christopher (1990). Notes to Chandos CD CHAN 8871 Ten years later the conductor David Lloyd-Jones edited the original score for a new recording, restoring some passages cut by Walton (and Palmer), and largely reverting to the smaller orchestral forces of the 1943 score.

1972 ballet

In 1972 the choreographer Joe Layton used Walton's music for a ballet about

Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish poet and playwright. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular playwrights in London in the early 1890s. He is ...

, ''O.W.'', given by the Royal Ballet at

Sadler's Wells Theatre Sadler's Wells Theatre is a performing arts venue in Clerkenwell, London, England located on Rosebery Avenue next to New River Head. The present-day theatre is the sixth on the site since 1683. It consists of two performance spaces: a 1,500-seat ...

, London. The prologue of the ballet was danced to music from ''The Quest''. (For the main section, Walton's

Viola Concerto A viola concerto is a concerto contrasting a viola with another body of musical instruments such as an orchestra or chamber music ensemble. Early examples of viola concertos include Telemann's concerto in G major and several concertos by Carl St ...

was used.)Percival, John. "Finding the paradox of Oscar Wilde", ''The Times'', 23 February 1972, p. 11

References and sources

References

Sources

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Quest, The Compositions by William Walton Ballets by Frederick Ashton 1943 compositions 1943 ballet premieres Works based on The Faerie Queene