We even have some details of rows between them. She also makes some exaggerated statements. For example, on page 82, she writes that the Symphony No 1 was the first fruits of Walton's relationship with Alice, Lady Wimborne which followed his failed relationship with Baroness Imma von Doernberg. I am concerned with Lady Walton's writing about her husband's dislike of Zoltan Kodaly. Sometimes the book reads like mere gossip and loses its credibility.
Myths arise about composers.
I was shocked to hear Michael Berkeley in BBC Television's series Masterworks state that Walton liked brass bands and used two in Belshazzar's Feast . It simply is not true. There are no brass bands in the score. A brass band is composed of cornets, flugelhorns, saxhorns, euphoniums, trombones, bombardons and perhaps saxophones. No such instruments appear in the score.