To Walton's delight, Hindemith accepted to play the Concerto. He thought of transposing it so that it would become a violin concerto but Edward Clark at the BBC sent it to Hindemith in Germany. Alas, when he sent it to Tertis, the viola virtuoso sent it back by the next post declaring it too modern. At the time Walton confessed that he knew little about the viola except that it made a rather awful sound! "The only piece of viola music he admired and knew was Berlioz's Harold in Italy, which he thought quite beautiful, although it was not highly thought of in those days." Nevertheless, Walton rose to the challenge and proceeded with the task, finishing his Viola Concerto at Amalfi. According to Susana Walton, writing in her book, William Walton: Behind the Façade, Walton was somewhat perplexed and wondered why Sir Thomas thought he should be able to write such a work. The Viola Concerto It was Sir Thomas Beecham who suggested, in 1928, that Walton should write a Viola Concerto for Lionel Tertis. Yet his three string concertos are amongst the finest written this century." Of them Christopher Palmer has written, "Walton knew little or nothing of strings as a performer. Walton wrote three concertos for string instruments: the Viola Concerto (1929), the Violin Concerto (1939) and the Cello Concerto (1957). Of Writings by Lady Walton, Michael Kennedy and Christopher Palmer With an Extract from an Interview with Tasmin Little
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