Swiss Yodelling Song from Façade Suite No.1

The work done by William Walton on Façade when he was barely in his twenties - to create with the poet Edith Sitwell a uniquely inspired “entertainment” for reciter and instrumental ensemble - set him up for life. First of all, even though early performances met with as much derision as anything else, it made his name for him. Then, although it would be a long time before a definitive version was finalised, both during and after that process of addition and subtraction Façade proved to be a useful source not only of income but also of material for other works - the two Façade Suites for orchestra, two Façade ballets, a piano Valse, three songs, and even (in 1977) “a further entertainment” Façade 2.

In Swiss Yodelling Song - one of the most attractive examples of Walton’s brilliance as a musical parodist - the yodelling is done mainly by lugubrious bassoons but, as cowbells jingle and piccolo and oboe recall the ranz des vaches (as used in Rossini’s William Tell Overture), its passes to violas, cor anglais and, towards the end, violins.