As You Like It – A Poem for Orchestra after Shakespeare (arr. Palmer)

Composer: WALTON, Sir William
  • The music was written for the 1936 film, As You Like It, starring Laurence Olivier. Walton would go on to contribute music for several future films with the actor portraying Shakespearean roles, including Hamlet, Henry V, and Richard III.
  • In this recording, Christopher Palmer arranged the individual pieces of incidental music that Walton wrote for the film into a continuous piece for orchestra.
  • The orchestral poem is comprised of five sections:
    1. Prelude
    2. Moonlight
    3. Under the Greenwood Tree (featuring soprano solo)
    4. The Fountain
    5. Wedding Procession1

More background on the 1936 film, As You Like It

Synopsis for the Shakespeare play, As You Like It

Sources

  1. Christopher Palmer, “As You Like It,” in accompanying booklet, Walton: Hamlet / As You Like It performed by the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields conducted by Sir Neville Marriner, CHAN 8842, 1990, compact disc.

Cut IDs

24616