In mid-1939 he visited Heifetz in New York to work on the piece together, incorporating the violinist's suggestions for making the solo part as effective as possible. During the course of composition he was bitten by a tarantula and marked the incident by incorporating a tarantella into the work in a passage he called 'quite gaga, I may say, and of doubtful propriety'.

After meeting Heifetz in London, Walton accepted a commission for a concerto, but he did not begin work on the piece until early 1938, when he went with his partner, Alice Wimborne, to Ravello, where he worked on the concerto for several months. In 1936 William Walton had established a position among the leading British composers of the day, but he was a slow and far from prolific worker and in that year he felt obliged to choose between accepting a commission from Jascha Heifetz or one from Joseph Szigeti and Benny Goodman, who wanted a work for violin and clarinet. The work has been frequently recorded and has established itself as one of the composer's most durable compositions.īackground and first performances Walton later reorchestrated the concerto the revised version was premiered in 1944. The British premiere, delayed by the Second World War, was given on 1 November 1941, with Henry Holst as soloist and the composer conducting.

The Violin Concerto by William Walton was written in 1938–39 and dedicated to Jascha Heifetz, who commissioned the work and performed it at its premiere on 7 December 1939 with the Cleveland Orchestra conducted by Artur Rodziński. Jasha Heifetz (1920), who commissioned the violin concerto

William walton viola concerto