In 1975 the immensely distinguished biologist and scientist Solly, Baron Zuckerman, then secretary of the Zoological Society of London, visited Walton in Ischia and asked him to write a piece to be played at a ceremonial visit to the zoo by the queen to celebrate its 150th anniversary the following year. The finished manuscript of Roaring Fanfare reached the zoo less than a month before the occasion for which it was intended.
Although written two years after Fanfare for the National, this was in fact Walton's next composition and bears the charming dedication 'To Solly Z., that Lion of Lions'. It was played on the arrival of the queen at the zoo, when she attended an evening reception prior to opening the new terrace at the Lion House. Its 18 bars find Walton in his most tongue-in-cheek mood. The thirds are piled up extravagantly, sometimes to optimum 13ths, the trombones roaring their leonine glissandi. The present edition is the fanfare's first publication.