Gordon Charles Watson AM (28 February 192116 April 1999) was an Australian classical pianist and teacher. He taught at the

Sydney Conservatorium of Music The Sydney Conservatorium of Music (formerly the New South Wales State Conservatorium of Music and known by the moniker "The Con") is a heritage-listed music school in Macquarie Street, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is one of the old ...

from 1964 to 1986, retiring as Head of the Keyboard Department.

Early life

Gordon Charles Watson was born in

Parkes, New South Wales Parkes is a town in the Central West region of New South Wales, Australia. It is the main settlement in the local government area of Parkes Shire. Parkes had a population of 11,224 as at 30 June 2018. Estimated resident population, 30 June 2 ...

in 1921. He served with the Australian Imperial Force for four years in World War II.''The Courier-Mail'', 2 January 1953
/ref> He studied piano under Laurence Godfrey Smith in Sydney, and later had advanced studies at

Mills College Mills College at Northeastern University is a private college in Oakland, California and part of Northeastern University's global university system. Mills College was founded as the Young Ladies Seminary in 1852 in Benicia, California; it was ...

Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...

with

Egon Petri Egon Petri (23 March 188127 May 1962) was a Dutch pianist. Life and career Petri's family was Dutch. He was born a Dutch citizen but in Hanover, Germany, and grew up in Dresden, where he attended the Kreuzschule. His father, a professional vio ...

(piano), and

Darius Milhaud Darius Milhaud (; 4 September 1892 – 22 June 1974) was a French composer, conductor, and teacher. He was a member of Les Six—also known as ''The Group of Six''—and one of the most prolific composers of the 20th century. His compositions ...

(composition).

Career

As early as 1943, commentators such as

Neville Cardus Sir John Frederick Neville Cardus, Commander of the Order of the British Empire, CBE (2 April 188828 February 1975) was an English writer and critic. From an impoverished home background, and mainly self-educated, he became ''The Manchester Gua ...

were noticing that his piano playing, while showing great skill and promise, revealed the soul of someone other than a performer (Cardus suggested composing or conducting might be Watson's natural bents). Watson spent some years living in the United Kingdom as a touring performer. On 22 October 1951, to celebrate the 140th anniversary of the birth of Franz Liszt, he performed the complete ''

Transcendental Études The ''Transcendental Études'' (french: Études d'exécution transcendante, links=no), S.139, are a set of twelve compositions for piano by Franz Liszt. They were published in 1852 as a revision of an 1837 set (which had not borne the title "d ...

'' in a concert at the

Wigmore Hall Wigmore Hall is a concert hall located at 36 Wigmore Street, London. Originally called Bechstein Hall, it specialises in performances of chamber music, early music, vocal music and song recitals. It is widely regarded as one of the world's leadi ...

. On that occasion he also premiered

Humphrey Searle Humphrey Searle (26 August 1915 – 12 May 1982) was an English composer and writer on music. His music combines aspects of late Romanticism and modernist serialism, particularly reminiscent of his primary influences, Franz Liszt, Arnold Schoen ...

's Piano Sonata, Op. 21, written for the occasion. (The sonata was loosely based on Liszt's Sonata in B minor and has been described as "probably, both the finest and most original piano work ever produced by a British composer".David C F Wright, ''Humphrey Searle''
/ref>) Watson later recorded the sonata, but the recording was quickly deleted. In 1957 he was able to introduce Searle to his teacher Egon Petri. Watson wrote the sleeve notes for the LP recording of classic Egon Petri performances issued by EMI in 1967 as number 7 in its Great Instrumentalists series. In 1951 he was chosen by

Constant Lambert Leonard Constant Lambert (23 August 190521 August 1951) was a British composer, conductor, and author. He was the founder and music director of the Royal Ballet, and (alongside Ninette de Valois and Frederick Ashton) he was a major figure in th ...

to play the difficult piano part in the premiere of his final ballet, ''

Tiresias In Greek mythology, Tiresias (; grc, Τειρεσίας, Teiresías) was a blind prophet of Apollo in Thebes, famous for clairvoyance and for being transformed into a woman for seven years. He was the son of the shepherd Everes and the nym ...

''. In late 1952 he gave the premiere performance of Darius Milhaud's 1st Piano Concerto, in London. In 1954/55, Watson commissioned a piano concerto from Humphrey Searle (his first), but was unable to be the soloist at the premiere at the

Cheltenham Festival The Cheltenham Festival is a horse racing-based meeting in the National Hunt racing calendar in the United Kingdom, with race prize money second only to the Grand National. The four-day festival takes place annually in March at Cheltenham Ra ...

in July 1955 as he was touring in Australia.Music Web International, ''Quadrille With a Raven: Memoirs by Humphrey Searle'', Chapter 11, "Lesley and Rosie's Pub"
/ref> He did, however, premiere Searle's 2nd Piano Concerto, Op. 27, on 14 August 1956, at the Royal Albert Hall, with the

BBC Symphony Orchestra The BBC Symphony Orchestra (BBC SO) is a British orchestra based in London. Founded in 1930, it was the first permanent salaried orchestra in London, and is the only one of the city's five major symphony orchestras not to be self-governing. T ...

under John Hollingsworth. On 20 August 1956 Watson and

Thea King Dame Thea King DBE FRCM FGSM (26 December 1925 – 26 June 2007) was a British clarinettist. Biography Early life Thea King was born in Hitchin, Hertfordshire, the daughter of Henry Walter Mayer King, the manager of his family engine ...

gave the first performance of Humphrey Searle's Suite for Clarinet and Piano. In 1958 on a visit home to Sydney he was asked by Winifred Burston, a renowned piano teacher at the

, to assess the young

Larry Sitsky Lazar "Larry" Sitsky (born 10 September 1934) is an Australian composer, pianist, and music educator and scholar. His long term legacy is still to be assessed, but through his work to date he has made a significant contribution to the Austra ...

's skills. He did so, and he and Burston jointly formed the view that Sitsky would benefit from study with Egon Petri, who accepted him as a pupil. Sitsky went on to study with Petri for over three years, from May 1958 until the end of 1961. In 1950 in London he also gave some months of lessons to another of Burston's pupils, Geofrey Parsons. Gordon Watson played the solo piano part of Brian Easdale's score for the controversial 1960

Michael Powell Michael Latham Powell (30 September 1905 – 19 February 1990) was an English filmmaker, celebrated for his partnership with Emeric Pressburger. Through their production company The Archers, they together wrote, produced and directed a seri ...

film ''

Peeping Tom Lady Godiva (; died between 1066 and 1086), in Old English , was a late Anglo-Saxon noblewoman who is relatively well documented as the wife of Leofric, Earl of Mercia, and a patron of various churches and monasteries. Today, she is mainly re ...

''. In 1964 Sir Bernard Heinze appointed Watson to succeed Winifred Burston on the teaching staff of the Sydney Conservatorium.''The Sydney Morning Herald'', 20 May 1964
/ref> He was the head of the Keyboard Department until 1986, being succeeded by Elizabeth Powell. His students included: Gerard Willems,

Michael Kieran Harvey Michael Kieran Harvey (born 7 July 1961) is an Australian pianist and composer whose career has been notable for its diversity and wide repertoire. He is renowned for commissioning, performing and composing new music. He has especially promoted ...

, Stephanie McCallum (she dedicated her album "Perfume: The Exquisite Piano Music of France" to her teacher Gordon Watson),

Elena Kats-Chernin Elena Davidovna Kats-Chernin (born 4 November 1957) is a Soviet-born Australian pianist and composer, best known for her ballet ''Wild Swans''. Early life and career Elena Kats-Chernin was born in Tashkent (now the capital of independent Uzbek ...

, Carey Beebe, Barry Walmsley, Brennan Keats, Garry Laycock (1944–88; who also used the professional name Leon Gibbons), Romano Crivici and Peter Carthew. He was a juror for the

Sydney International Piano Competition The Sydney International Piano Competition is a music competition, presented in Sydney and broadcast live throughout Australia and internationally. It is held every four years, over a three-week period in July–August, and is internationally r ...

in 1981 and 1985. The Australian pedagogue and composer Alex Burnard (1900–1971), a student of Ralph Vaughan Williams, wrote a set of ''Twelve Folk-Songs Settings'' for Watson. Gordon Watson died in Sydney on 16 April 1999. An obituary appeared in ''

The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper ...

'' on 27 April.

Honours

Gordon Watson was appointed a Member of the

Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gov ...

(AM) in the

Australia Day Australia Day is the official national day of Australia. Observed annually on 26 January, it marks the 1788 landing of the First Fleet at Sydney Cove and raising of the Union Flag by Arthur Phillip following days of exploration of Port ...

Honours of 1987, for his services to music as a performer and teacher.

Recordings

Gordon Watson recorded: *

Benjamin Britten Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976, aged 63) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, other ...

: ''

The Holy Sonnets of John Donne ''The Holy Sonnets of John Donne'' is a song cycle composed in 1945 by Benjamin Britten for tenor or soprano voice and piano, and published as his Op. 35. It was written for himself and his life-partner, the tenor Peter Pears, and its first pe ...

'', with

Alexander Young Alexander Young may refer to: * Alexander Young (bishop) (died 1684), 17th century Scottish prelate *Alexander Young (engineer) (1833–1910), Scottish engineer and businessman who became a citizen of the Kingdom of Hawaii *Alexander Young (musicia ...

, tenor *

Frederick Delius Delius, photographed in 1907 Frederick Theodore Albert Delius ( 29 January 1862 – 10 June 1934), originally Fritz Delius, was an English composer. Born in Bradford in the north of England to a prosperous mercantile family, he resisted atte ...

: songs ("Autumn", "Cradle Song", "Evening Voices", "In the Seraglio Garden", "Let Springtime Come", "Love's Philosophy", "The Nightingale Has a Lyre of Gold"), with Joan Stuart (soprano), Joan Stuart, soprano; 2 other songs * Horace Keats: (1972) songs, with the mezzo-soprano

Lauris Elms Lauris Margaret Elms (born 20 October 1931) is an Australian retired contralto, renowned for her roles in opera and lieder and as a recording artist. Biography She was born in Springvale, Victoria, the elder daughter of Harry Britton Elms and ...

. *

Heinrich Marschner Heinrich August Marschner (16 August 1795 – 14 December 1861) was the most important composer of German opera between Weber and Wagner.

: (1952) Trio in F major, Op. 167, with Granville Jones (violin) and Norina Semino (cello) *

Roger Quilter Roger Cuthbert Quilter (1 November 1877 – 21 September 1953) was a British composer, known particularly for his art songs. His songs, which number over a hundred, often set music to text by William Shakespeare and are a mainstay of the E ...

: Song Cycle ''To Julia''; Seven Elizabethan Lyrics; Three Songs by Shelley *

: Piano Sonata, Op. 21 (Watson had given the world premiere performance in 1951) * Ralph Vaughan Williams: '' On Wenlock Edge'' with Alexander Young and the Sebastian String Quartet. * Vaughan Williams: Seven Songs from ''

The Pilgrim's Progress ''The Pilgrim's Progress from This World, to That Which Is to Come'' is a 1678 Christianity, Christian allegory written by John Bunyan. It is regarded as one of the most significant works of theological fiction in English literature and a prog ...

'', with John Cameron, baritone; Patricia Bartlett (soprano), Patricia Bartlett, soprano; Iris Kells, soprano *

Peter Warlock Philip Arnold Heseltine (30 October 189417 December 1930), known by the pseudonym Peter Warlock, was a British composer and music critic. The Warlock name, which reflects Heseltine's interest in occult practices, was used for all his published ...

: (1954) song cycle '' The Curlew'' with Alexander Young, tenor; Lionel Solomon, flute; Peter Graeme, English horn; and the Sebastian String Quartet. It may be heard . * (1955) piano pieces by Roy Agnew, Horace Keats and Alex Burnard.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Watson, Gordon 1921 births 1999 deaths Australian classical pianists Male classical pianists Mills College alumni Piano pedagogues Sydney Conservatorium of Music faculty Members of the Order of Australia Australian military personnel of World War II Pupils of Darius Milhaud 20th-century classical pianists 20th-century French male musicians