윌리엄 월튼 교향곡 제2번 (Symphony no. 2)

William Walton composed his Symphony No. 2 between 1957 and 1960. It was commissioned in November 1955 by the Liverpool Philharmonic Society and was originally intended to commemorate in 1957 the 750th anniversary of the city of Liverpool's royal charter of 1207. Walton, although a diligent worker, did not habitually compose quickly. In addition, existing commissions and other challenges further delayed the completion of the symphony. He finished the first movement in 1959, then the last two in 1960; that same year, he revised the first into its final form. By the time the symphony was completed, the occasion for which it was composed had passed. The city of Liverpool agreed to cede the location of the world premiere to the Edinburgh Festival, with the proviso that it be played by the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic. Conducted by John Pritchard, they performed the world premiere at the Usher Hall in Edinburgh, on 2 September 1960. Walton perceived the initial critical reaction to his Second Symphony as a disaster. Twenty-five years had passed since he had composed his First Symphony. Expectations among British critics that the Second Symphony would surpass its predecessor were high. Instead, they were largely disappointed by the work's lighter mood and conservative idiom. Neville Cardus accused the composer of synthesising compositional tropes that he had previously employed. Peter Heyworth praised Walton's aesthetic convictions but criticised the composer for failing to develop and for stereotyping his own style. The symphony met with a more favourable response in the United States. George Szell, the music director of the Cleveland Orchestra, had championed Walton's music since the 1930s. On 29 December 1960 he conducted the American premiere of the Second Symphony at Severance Hall in Cleveland, Ohio. Early in 1961 the Cleveland Orchestra recorded for Epic Records what Szell hoped to be the definitive recording of the symphony. He later said that its success was crucial in goading British critics to re-examine the work. "[Walton] had felt that Edinburgh had almost killed his new work", the composer's wife wrote, "and now Szell had caused it to be reborn". On Szell's death in 1970, Walton rededicated his Second Symphony to the conductor's memory as a gesture of gratitude.