A Little Known Gem
Skeller | 08/30/2006
(4 out of 5 stars)
"For some reason, Walton's ballet "The Quest" is not well known. It should be. It has all the wonderful features of Walton's orchestral music (a touch of romantic lyricism, modern harmony, melodic invention, masterful orchestration, etc.) including a treat from one of masters of the variation - variations based on the Seven Deadly Sins. It is fun to try to guess which variation belongs to which Sin before you read the track titles (I got four out of seven, but the fourth was just a guess). The final movement, "The House of Holiness" is truly majestic. If you have Walton's orchestral music your collection is incomplete without this piece. "The Wise Virgins" is Walton's orchestration of some of Bach's music. I found this collection somewhat disappointing - I thought the orchestration would be a bit more inventive, a bit less conventional. Still, I am happy to own this orchestration by Walton, and the inclusion of "The Quest" makes this CD well worth the price."