Watson Forbes

Forbesfest celebrates the centenary of the birth of twentieth-century St Andrews' most distinguished musical son - the viola player Watson Forbes, one of the most celebrated British instrumentalists of his generation, who for thirty years played with one of the foremost British string quartets, the Aeolian Quartet; and who rounded off his career as Head of Music, BBC Scotland, from 1965 to 1972.

Early years

Watson's parents were jewellers in Market Street, who had come down the coast from Montrose, where the family had been settled for generations. In later life Watson attributed his musical tastes and talents to hearing his father's Scots fiddling, but his professional success clearly owed as much to his mother's strength of character and business abilities (it was she who had run the shop).

Like nearly all viola players, Watson started with the violin (in all essentials the technique is the same, but the larger size of the viola means that most students move to it only at physical maturity).  Quickly he absorbed all the local violin teachers had to offer; and going across to Dundee in those days showed real commitment in terms of time and effort.  In spite of the presence of the University, Watson was not, in retrospect, much impressed with the cultural scene in St Andrews; and he certainly would applaud the contrasting wealth of music on offer in the burgh today.

Royal Academy of Music

After leaving school at the age of sixteen, Watson was sent by his parents down to London to study at the Royal Academy of Music (what faith all that showed), where he had a succession of violin teachers.  Although at the time this lack of continuity and a consistent long-term mentor seemed a disappointment (and might have held back his development), it did mean that he learnt to find his own way - the true end of all education.  His conversion to the viola he described with characteristic self-depreciation and wit, as a combination of the economic and the aesthetic - a viola player would never be out of a job, while the lower register of the instrument immediately felt more comfortable under the ear (of all stringed instruments the viola is closest in range to the human voice).

Stratton Quartet

Following his student days, Watson soaked up all the experience available to him, playing everything, for everybody, from Wagner operas under the already legendary Sir Thomas Beecham, to Lyons teashops - an experience he repeated during the war years as member of the RAF Orchestra, which reinforced his inclinations to openness and accessibility.  But it had been the invitation to join the Stratton Quartet that set the direction of this stage of his career.  The Stratton was Elgar's preferred quartet, and their recordings in 1933, of his String Quartet and Piano Quintet (the first that Watson ever made) were the music he chose to listen to on his deathbed.

Aeolian Quartet

The Aeolian Quartet in 1946: Alfred Cave, Watson Forbes, John Moore, Leonard Dight

Renamed the Aeolian Quartet after the war, it was one of only a handful of specialised professional quartets.  Their best known (though younger) contemporary was, of course, the Amadeus Quartet, but they were essentially a Viennese quartet in exile, whose repertoire and performance style was tied to their four personalities.  The Aeolian, by contrast, was very British in its adaptability (its members, Watson included, all continued to play in a variety of other chamber groups), and capacity for self-renewal (each replacement coming in as the youngest member of the quartet).  This concern for renewal also found expression in Forbes' teaching as Head of Chamber Music at the Royal Academy.  His most lasting legacy here was the launching of two of the best British quartets of the subsequent generation, the Alberni and the Lindsay Quartets.

The Aeolian Quartet in 1960 with Sydney Humphreys, Trevor Williams and Derek Simpson

Head of Music, BBC Scotland

As Head of Music BBC Scotland (1964-74), Forbes rescued the BBC Scottish Choral Society,  safeguarded and expanded the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, then under threat, reinvigorated the repertoire, and greatly fostered the Scottish musical culture of the day (including traditional Scottish music, with a fiddle competition in Perth at which Yehudi Menuhin was the chief adjudicator).  

Retirement

Retirement might have meant leaving the Glasgow professional music scene, but it was soon replaced by an active involvement in community music centred on Lochgoilhead, where the Forbes' had had property since returning to Scotland.  The Seasons, with newly written verse to replace the sonnets in Vivaldi's score; a Christmas St Nicholas, using a village choir to sing Bach chorales; a children's show called The Goilies;  the Burns cantata The Jolly Beggars - all were produced by the team of Watson and Jean, who also gave illustrated talks on music for the WEA. This pattern was continued after they moved south to Warwickshire, with a particular involvement in The Cotswold Sinfonietta (founded by two ex-Scottish National Orchestra viola players!).   Retirement also enabled Watson to work on one of his most enduring and useful legacies as a musician -  an extensive series of arrangements to expand the viola repertoire, and a series of educational collections for other instruments.

All around the world, even those who know nothing of the viola or of chamber music have cause, therefore, to remember the name of Watson Forbes, though it is for these aspects of his life and work that our centenary celebration is primarily devoted.