Admirers of William Walton's music, aware of the specifically dramatic qualities in his symphonic and choral works, have often wondered whether his strong dramatic impulse would one day be set in motion by a great story and he would write an opera. It may well be that scanty opportunities of operatic production here, in the past, have discouraged him as they have discouraged many other British composers. Nevertheless there has been a remarkable revival of English opera in recent years, and the season of 1954 must be unique in bringing before the public four new full-length operas by major British composers.