Leader, J. Mouland Begbie
Conductor, Guy Warrack

William Walton's 'Facade'
'Facade' was written in 1923, when the composer was twenty-one years of age. It was originally conceived as a series of poems by Edith Sitwell to be recited through a megaphone with musical accompaniment for flute, clarinet, saxophone, 'cello, trumpet, and percussion. These accompaniments are mostly in the form of very clever and witty parodies of popular dance tunes, ranging from the polka to the foxtrot. In 1926 Walton revised this work and also arranged an orchestral suite for concert use, consisting of some of the most popular numbers. Its great success encouraged him to bring out a second suite, which was heard for the-first time at a Promenade Concert on September 10 last year.

William Boyce
In his Preface to the eight symphonies of Boyce, which he has transcribed and edited for strings and wind, Constant Lambert points out that 'William Boyce (1710-1779) does not at the present day enjoy the renown as an instrumental composer that is rightly his as a choral composer, but the neglect into which his instrumental works have fallen is unaccountable for they rank among the finest compositions of their time, not only in England but in Europe. The eight symphonies (a word which Boyce uses to describe what would nowadays be considered a concerto grosso) are not only of great technical and historical interest but have a vigour and charm that are rarely found together '.