Belshazzar's Feast is a cantata by the English composer William Walton, depicting the Babylonian captivity of the people of Israel, the death of their oppressor Belshazzar and the collapse of the Babylonian kingdom. It was first performed at the Leeds Triennial Festival on 8 October 1931, with the baritone soloist Dennis Noble, the London Symphony Orchestra and the Leeds Festival Chorus, conducted by Malcolm Sargent.

Osbert Sitwell selected the text from the Bible, primarily the Book of Daniel and Psalm 137. The work is dedicated to Walton's friend and benefactor Lord Berners. Belshazzar's Feast has remained one of Walton's most celebrated compositions, but for many years after its premiere it was deemed unsuitable for church performance and in England it was banned from the Three Choirs Festival until 1957. Background

The work was conceived in response to a commission by the BBC. The invitation came in a letter of 21 August 1929 from the BBC programme planner Edward Clark, who asked Walton for a work suitable for broadcasting, written for a small choir, soloist, and an orchestra not exceeding fifteen players.Lloyd, p. 99 Walton and Clark knew each other, as they had had dealings in relation to the premiere of the composer's Viola Concerto, which was given in the same year with Paul Hindemith as soloist.Kennedy, p. 49 Walton's friend and sometime patron Osbert Sitwell suggested the writing on the wall at Belshazzar's feast as a subject and produced a libretto from biblical – mainly Old Testament – sources.Craggs, p. 59

Walton – generally a slow and painstaking workerKennedy, p. 279 – struggled with the composition for well over a year, and it grew from its original conception as a short work for small forces, as commissioned by the BBC, to its eventual form. As the length and scale of the work grew during its composition, it became clear by mid-1930 that it was too big to meet the BBC's modest requirements.Craggs, pp. 62–63

Early in 1931 it was announced that Belshazzar's Feast would be premiered at the Leeds Triennial Festival. The director of the festival was the conductor Sir Thomas Beecham, who said to Walton, "Well, my boy, as you will probably never hear this work again, you might as well chuck in a couple of brass bands".Craggs, p. 63 Recalling this in 1972 Walton said, "I've always liked brass bands, so I did". "Brass bands" in this context meant two extra brass sections, each comprising three trumpets, three trombones and a tuba;Kennedy, p. 58 the extra brass would be on hand in any case, for a performance of Berlioz's Requiem under Beecham, two days after the premiere of Walton's work. The extra brass sections are placed on either side of the platform and join in antiphonally at strategic points of the score, in the same way as they are used in the Berlioz work.Palmer, p. 2; and Howes, p. 162

By March 1931 the work was complete and the members of the Leeds Festival Chorus were sent their parts. A myth grew up – which Walton believed for many years – that the chorus, rebelling against the difficulties of the choral writing, refused to go on rehearsing the piece and that consequently Beecham had to send his colleague Malcolm Sargent to pacify them. In a biography of Sargent published in 1968, Charles Reid reported that he had interviewed surviving members of the 1931 chorus, who said that the story was untrue, and that although some of the older singers "muttered resentfully about the score's irregular metres and other hazards", the chorus had enjoyed mastering the work.Reid, p. 205 In September Walton attended one of the rehearsals and thanked the chorus for the trouble they had taken and the progress they had made."Composer at Leeds Rehearsal", The Yorkshire Post, 14 September 1931, p. 4 Sargent added that Berlioz's Requiem (which the chorus were to sing at the festival) and Elgar's Dream of Gerontius (which they had sung in previous years) were both considered impossible at one time. The Yorkshire Post reported, "The singers, now that the toil of learning the notes is over, are beginning to feel pleased with themselves, and actually to like the music".

Premiere and later performances

The premiere was given on 8 October in Leeds Town Hall. Sargent conducted the festival chorus and the London Symphony Orchestra, with the baritone soloist Dennis Noble.Craggs, p. 63 The work was an immediate success and has remained one of Walton's most celebrated compositions.Ward, David. "The six greatest works of William Walton", The Guardian, 15 July 2002 Walton dedicated the cantata to his friend and benefactor Lord Berners.Kennedy, p. 61

The London premiere was at the Queen's Hall on 25 November 1931. Adrian Boult conducted the BBC Symphony Orchestra and the National Chorus, with the baritone soloist Stuart Robertson."The World of Music", Illustrated London News, 5 December 1931, p. 922 Between the two premieres, the music critic of The Times, H. C. Colles, wrote:

In Kennedy's view these words "made their mark on the ecclesiastical powers of the Three Choirs Festival, who refused to admit Belshazzar's Feast into their cathedrals".Kennedy, p. 59 Plans to perform it at the 1932 festival were abandoned at the insistence of Ivor Atkins, organist of Worcester Cathedral, who considered Sitwell's libretto unsuitable for church performance. The festival authorities maintained the ban for twenty-five years.

The work was performed at the ISCM Festival in Amsterdam in 1933, conducted by Constant Lambert.Evans, Edwin. "The I.S.C.M. Festival at Amsterdam", The Musical Times, vol. 74, no. 1086, 1933, pp. 705–708 Leopold Stokowski conducted performances with the Philadelphia Orchestra in January 1934.Lloyd, p. 109 Sargent regularly programmed it throughout the rest of his career, and took it as far afield as Australia, Brussels, Vienna and Boston. Not only British conductors from Sargent to Simon Rattle, but also Eugene Ormandy, Maurice Abravanel, André Previn, Robert Shaw, Leonard Slatkin and Andrew Litton have recorded the work."Discography" , Walton Trust. Retrieved 15 February 2026 In 1947 Herbert von Karajan called it "the best choral music that's been written in the last 50 years".Osborne, p. 225 Karajan only performed the work once, in 1948 in Vienna, but it was a performance that moved Walton to tears and he expressed amazement that he could ever have written such a wonderful work.

The work was finally admitted to the Three Choirs Festival on 2 September 1957 in Worcester Cathedral, performed by the baritone Hervey Alan. the festival choir and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra conducted by David Willcocks.Waterhouse, J. F. "Three Choirs Festival", Birmingham Post, 3 September 1957, p. 5 As late as 1973, in his study of Walton's music Frank Howes wrote, "Deans and Chapters are more broad-minded in these matters than formerly … but a sense of what is fitting does indicate that its place is not in church".Howes, p. 170

Synopsis In the story of Belshazzar's Feast, the Jews are in exile in Babylon. At a feast at which Belshazzar, the Babylonian king, commits sacrilege by using the Jews' sacred vessels to praise the heathen gods, his doom is foretold by a ghostly hand writing on the wall. That night he is killed and his kingdom collapses.

Sections Although not specified in the published score, the text forms a triptych, each section of which is sub-divided.Palmer, p. 3

123 [Introduction] Thus spake IsaiahIf I forget thee, O JerusalemBy the waters of Babylon [Transition] Babylon was a great cityIn Babylon, Belshazzar the King made a great feastPraise ye the God of GoldThus in Babylon, the mighty city [Transition] And in that same hour, as they feastedThen sing aloud to God our strengthThe trumpeters and pipers are silentThen sing aloud to God our strength

Text

Thus spake Isaiah – Thy sons that thou shalt beget They shall be taken away And be eunuchs In the palace of the King of Babylon Howl ye, howl ye, therefore: For the day of the Lord is at hand!

By the waters of Babylon, There we sat down, yea, we wept And hanged our harps upon the willows.

For they that wasted us Required of us mirth; They that carried us away captive Required of us a song. Sing us one of the songs of Zion.

How shall we sing the Lord's song In a strange land?

If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, Let my right hand forget her cunning. If I do not remember thee, Let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth. Yea, if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy.

By the waters of Babylon, There we sat down: yea, we wept.

O daughter of Babylon, who art to be destroyed, Happy shall he be that taketh thy children And dasheth them against a stone, For with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down And shall be found no more at all.

Babylon was a great city, Her merchandise was of gold and silver, Of precious stones, of pearls, of fine linen, Of purple, silk and scarlet, All manner vessels of ivory, All manner vessels of most precious wood, Of brass, iron and marble, Cinnamon, odours and ointments, Of frankincense, wine and oil, Fine flour, wheat and beasts, Sheep, horses, chariots, slaves And the souls of men.

In Babylon Belshazzar the King Made a great feast, Made a feast to a thousand of his lords, And drank wine before the thousand.

Belshazzar, whiles he tasted the wine, Commanded us to bring the gold and silver vessels: Yea, the golden vessels, which his father, Nebuchadnezzar, Had taken out of the temple that was in Jerusalem.

He commanded us to bring the golden vessels Of the temple of the house of God, That the King, his Princes, his wives And his concubines might drink therein.

Then the King commanded us: Bring ye the cornet, flute, sackbut, psaltery And all kinds of music: they drank wine again, Yea, drank from the sacred vessels, And then spake the King:

Praise ye The God of Gold Praise ye The God of Silver Praise ye The God of Iron Praise ye The God of Wood Praise ye The God of Stone Praise ye The God of Brass Praise ye the Gods.

Thus in Babylon, the mighty city Belshazzar the King made a great feast, Made a feast to a thousand of his lords, And drank wine before the thousand.

Belshazzar whiles he tasted the wine Commanded us to bring the gold and silver vessels That his Princes, his wives and his concubines Might rejoice and drink therein.

After they had praised their strange gods, The idols and the devils, False gods who can neither see nor hear, Called they for the timbrel and the pleasant harp To extol the glory of the King. Then they pledged the King before the people, Crying, Thou, O King, art King of Kings: O King, live for ever...

And in that same hour, as they feasted Came forth fingers of a man's hand And the King saw The part of the hand that wrote.

And this was the writing that was written: 'MENE, MENE, TEKEL UPHARSIN THOU ART WEIGHED IN THE BALANCE AND FOUND WANTING'. In that night was Belshazzar the King slain And his kingdom divided.

Then sing aloud to God our strength: Make a joyful noise unto the God of Jacob. Take a psalm, bring hither the timbrel, Blow up the trumpet in the new moon, Blow up the trumpet in Zion For Babylon the Great is fallen, fallen. Alleluia!

Then sing aloud to God our strength: Make a joyful noise unto the God of Jacob, While the Kings of the Earth lament And the merchants of the Earth Weep, wail and rend their raiment. They cry, Alas, Alas, that great city, In one hour is her judgement come.

The trumpeters and pipers are silent, And the harpers have ceased to harp, And the light of a candle shall shine no more.

Then sing aloud to God our strength. Make a joyful noise to the God of Jacob. For Babylon the Great is fallen. Alleluia!

Musical structure