Walton’s First Symphony

Trumpet star Tine Thing Helseth joins Alpesh Chauhan for the UK premiere of Nico Muhly’s Doom Painting.

Following the lively ‘Courtly Dances’ from Britten’s opera Gloriana, Norwegian trumpeter, Tine Thing Helseth takes to the platform to perform this new, exciting work, written especially for her. Musically illustrating the biblical role of the trumpet and celebrating its vast expressive possibilities, Nico Muhly’s Doom Painting leads us on a dramatic journey through this historic instrument’s various iterations: ceremonial object for rituals and celebrations alike; harbinger of Doomsday; and jubilant instrument of the psalms.  

Walton’s Symphony No.1 is widely considered among the greatest twentieth-century symphonies. Sometimes triumphant, sometimes hostile – the second movement, for example, is subtitled ‘Presto con malizia’ (‘quickly with malice’) – expect emotional intensity from start to finish.