Façade – an entertainment comprising poems by Edith Sitwell read to instrumental accompaniments composed by William Walton – was first recorded, by its creators, in 1929. Over the next two decades Sitwell and Walton added numbers to the entertainment and removed others. A definitive edition was published in 1951. In 1977, after Sitwell's death, Walton released a set of eight poems and accompaniments not included in the 1951 score, titling it Façade Revived. After further revision the second work was published as Façade 2 in 1979. Most recorded sets of Façade made since then have included the 1970s additions, and some have also included a selection of Sitwell's poems for which no music is known to exist.
Reciters Players Conductor Label ReleasedOCLC NoNotesEdith Sitwell,Constant Lambertinstrumental ensembleWilliam WaltonDecca1929800336494Edith Sitwell, David Hornerinstrumental ensembleFrederik PrausnitzColumbia1949 48076333Edith Sitwell,Peter PearsEnglish Opera Group EnsembleAnthony CollinsDecca195410193372Vera ZorinaPhiladelphia OrchestraEugene OrmandyColumbia196136977103Hermione Gingold, Russell Oberlininstrumental ensembleThomas DunnDecca1964624435318Cleo Laine, Annie Rossinstrumental ensembleJohn DankworthFontana19679308920Fenella Fielding, Michael FlandersAcademy of St. Martin-in-the-FieldsNeville MarrinerEMI19728531185Peggy Ashcroft, Paul ScofieldLondon SinfoniettaSir William WaltonDecca1972527843Tony RandallColumbia Chamber EnsembleArthur FiedlerColumbia19763133078Cathy Berberian,Robert Tearinstrumental ensembleSteuart BedfordOxford University Press19806803647Including premiere recording of Façade 2Nancie Kennedyinstrumental ensembleDavid ZinmanRochester Chamber Music Society198285265137Prunella Scales, Timothy West London Mozart PlayersJane GloverASV1989552191508Includes 15 Sitwell poems without musicPeggy Ashcroft, Jeremy IronsLondon SinfoniettaRiccardo ChaillyDecca1989748713715Including Façade 2Susana Walton, Richard BakerCity of London SinfoniaRichard HickoxChandos1990259591306Including Façade 2Pamela HunterMelologos EnsembleSilveer van den BroeckDiscover19933251663142 numbers including nine without musicLynn RedgraveChamber Music Society of Lincoln Center Joseph SilversteinArabesque199738740330Including Façade 2 and also 11 Sitwell poems without musicEleanor Bron,Richard StilgoeNash EnsembleDavid Lloyd-JonesHyperion2001673092949The complete extant numbers