Façade Entertainment

In cooperation with the Mozarteum University Salzburg

With William Walton’s music and Edith Sitwell’s poems, immerse yourself in the scandalous premiere that caused uproar and outrage in London’s musical circles in 1923. The work consisted of Edith’s verses, which she performed over a megaphone behind a screen while Walton conducted an ensemble of six musicians. What initially horrified the London press and audience, and was labelled “drivel they paid money to hear”, would later become a timeless piece of masterful musical history.

Two months after the agitated premiere of “Façade” in London, the young composer William Walton premiered his first string quartet at the IGNM Festival in Salzburg, where he enjoyed great success and gained his first international attention. Experience this avant-garde, but also humorous and entertaining masterpiece by William Walton and Edith Sitwell in the unique ambience of the Winterfest.

flute Theodore Squire
clarinet Julia Rimmele
saxophone Enya Auer
trumpet Max Larson Kuhla
cello Jaehyun Kim
percussion Doo Hee Lee

conductor Chungki Min
speaker Sophie Allen