Belshazzar's Feast - William Walton

Belshazzar's Feast
William Walton
London Philharmonic Choir
Dennis Noble Baritone
Philharmonic Promenade Orchestra Conducted By Sir Adrian Boult
Westminster XWN 18253
1956

I bought this record because I was drawn to the outstanding illustration. But the music, if you are into exotica and or soundtrack, is an interesting listen. A few passages remind me of the mutants singing to the bomb in the movie Beneath The Planet Of The Apes. Well... it just does!  I sampled the first part of the record. Sorry, that's just the way I do things here in The Attic... just a taste.

This from the Belshazzar's Feast wiki page: Musical structure: The music throughout is strongly rhythmic, and richly orchestrated. The rhythms and harmonies reflect Walton’s interest in jazz and other popular music, pressed into service to tell a religious story. Despite its jagged rhythms and strident orchestral effects, the work is essentially conventional in its tonality. Walton's biographer Michael Kennedy writes, "diatonicism is at the root of the matter ... stringtremolandi, brass fanfares, and masterly use of unaccompanied declaration work their customary spell." Kennedy adds that the chilling orchestral sounds which introduce the writing on the wall derive from Richard Strauss's Salome.