Walton left Oxford in 1920 without a degree having failed his exams three times. He went to live with the Sitwell family, who introduced him to many important people, including the composer Constant Lambert and song writer Noel Coward. He also travelled with the Sitwells to Italy. In 1923 he set one of Edith Sitwell’s poems to music. The piece was called "Façade". The music was very jazzy and almost jokey, and it sounded very modern to many people at that time.