沃尔顿（William Turner Walton, 1902 – 1983）是二十世纪著名英国作曲家，指挥家。我们前面介绍的埃尔加（Edward William Elgar, 1857 – 1934）也是英国作曲家，可以看出，沃尔顿比埃尔加晚将近半个世纪。如果说埃尔加的作品风格总体属于浪漫派晚期，那么沃尔顿的风格则已经开始离开浪漫派晚期，而受到二十世纪被统称为“现代主义”（modernism）各种流派的影响。
沃尔顿《伯沙撒王的宴会》的体裁是大合唱（cantata），这是根据英文维基百科的介绍。这里的“大合唱”是意大利语cantata 译成中文的对应词。 Cantata 大约从17世纪初开始指有器乐伴奏的较大型的合唱（包括独唱/重唱）作品。其形式与“清唱剧”（oratorio）相近，但二者相比，“清唱剧”大多是表现和《圣经》有关的题材，而“大合唱”的题材则总体上更宽泛，包括世俗的内容；此外，“清唱剧”往往比“大合唱”具有更多“剧”的成分，包括具体的情节和剧中不同角色的分工演唱；而“大合唱”“剧”的成分相对弱一些，情节和角色往往都比较模糊。
有些中文媒体，如百度百科，新芭网，把沃尔顿的《伯沙撒王的宴会》说成是“清唱剧”，但没有给出出处，只得存疑，不排除是误传的可能。
大合唱《伯沙撒王的宴会》的歌词是英国文学家奥斯伯特 西特韦尔（Osbert Sitwell，1892 – 1969）根据《圣经》的有关章节，特别是其中的《但以理書》（Book of Daniel）和《诗篇137》（Psalm 137）编写，讲述古代巴比伦王国由盛而衰的故事：犹太人流亡到巴比伦；巴比伦国王伯沙撒利用犹太人神圣的器皿赞美异教的神灵，来以此亵渎神圣；但他却奇迹般地被杀了，他的王国也由此衰落；而犹太人则重新获得了自由，并赞美上帝。
全曲分为以下十段：
- 以赛亚如是说（[Introduction] Thus spake Isaiah）；
- 在巴比伦水边/如果我忘了你啊耶路撒冷（By the waters of Babylon/If I forget thee O Jerusalem）；
- 巴比伦是个伟大的城市（Babylon was a great city）；
- 在巴比伦，伯沙撒王有一场宏伟的盛宴（In Babylon, Belshazzar the King made a great feast）；
- 赞美诸神（Praise ye）；
- 在强大的城市巴比伦（Thus in Babylon, the mighty city）；
- 而在同一时刻（[Transition] And in that same hour）；
- 高声歌唱上帝，我们的力量（Then sing aloud to God our strength）；
- 号手与吹笛者都沉默了（The trumpeters and pipers were silent）；
- 高声歌唱上帝，我们的力量（Then sing aloud to God our strength）。
分段之间多没有休止，而是连续演唱演奏。全曲用时约33到36分钟左右。
作品运用一位男中音独唱，两个混声合唱团，一个大型管弦乐队，与两个额外的铜管乐队，男中音演唱唯一的叙述者。
整部作品的音乐起伏变化很大，情绪狂热，气势宏伟。其风格已突破后期浪漫派，而更多具有二十世纪“现代主义”音乐的特征，包括变化多端的节拍与节奏，频繁的结构内的离调与转调，大量不协和和弦的运用，等等。
作品更多的信息英文见维基百科：
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belshazzar%27s_Feast_(Walton)
中文见新芭网：
https://www.sin80.com/work/walton-belshazzars-feast
下面是作品的第五段“赞美诸神”（Praise ye），表现巴比伦国王伯沙撒对金，银，铁，木，石，黄铜等异教诸神的赞颂，在作品中是一种“负面的”形象。音乐是一段合唱，情绪粗犷热情，带有“异国风味”，调性富于变化。这段音像取自英国BBC国家管弦乐团（BBC National Orchestra），威尔士合唱团（Chorus of Wales），伦敦管乐团（London Brass）与BBC 交响合唱团（BBC Symphony Chorus）于2012年演出，尾高忠明（Tadaaki Otaka）指挥。
Walton: Belshazzar's Feast (Praise ye...) - BBC Proms 2012
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPWYAm_EguY&ab_channel=BBC
下面是沃尔顿的大合唱《伯沙撒王的宴会》全曲的音像，由英国BBC国家管弦乐团（BBC National Orchestra），威尔士合唱团（Chorus of Wales），伦敦管乐团（London Brass）与BBC 交响合唱团（BBC Symphony Chorus）于2012年演出，尾高忠明（Tadaaki Otaka）指挥，乔纳森 莱玛路（Jonathan Lemalu）担任独唱：
Walton: Belshazzar's Feast - BBC Proms 2012 (Tadaaki Otaka )
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5S7By7pDjJ4&ab_channel=MartialVidz
下面是全曲音像的另一个版本，由英国BBC交响乐团（BBC Symphony Orchestra），BBC交响合唱团（BBC Symphony Chorus）于2002年演出，安德鲁 戴维斯（Andrew Davis）指挥，布莱恩 特菲尔（Bryn Terfel ）担任独唱：
Sir William Walton - Belshazzar's Feast (1994 - BBCSO / Sir Andrew Davis)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lt3k3-EqnaU&ab_channel=glagolitic
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附录：转贴：沃尔顿的大合唱《伯沙撒王的宴会》英文原文歌词：
（可惜没有找到中文翻译。很遗憾这部名作的歌词还没有被翻译出来。）
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belshazzar%27s_Feast_(Walton)#List_of_movements
The full text is as follows:
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,
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!
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