For the U.S. Representative from New Mexico see: William Bell Walton Sir William Turner Walton, OM (March 29, 1902–March 8, 1983) was a British composer and conductor. His style was influenced by the works of Stravinsky, Prokofiev and jazz, and is characterized by rhythmic vitality, bittersweet harmony, sweeping Romantic melody and brilliant orchestration. His output includes orchestral and choral works, chamber music and ceremonial music, as well as notable film scores. His earliest works, especially Edith Sitwell's Façade brought him notoriety as a modernist, but it was with orchestral symphonic works and the oratorio Belshazzar's Feast that he gained international recognition. He was knighted in 1951, and was admitted to the Order of Merit in 1967. He died in Ischia, Italy, where he had settled in 1949. Biography Early life and rise to fame