William Waterhouse (18 February 1931 – 5 November 2007) was an English
bassoon
The bassoon is a woodwind instrument in the double reed family, which plays in the tenor and bass ranges. It is composed of six pieces, and is usually made of wood. It is known for its distinctive tone color, wide range, versatility, and virtuo ...
ist and
musicologist
Musicology (from Greek μουσική ''mousikē'' 'music' and -λογια ''-logia'', 'domain of study') is the scholarly analysis and research-based study of music. Musicology departments traditionally belong to the humanities, although some mu ...
. He played with notable orchestras, was a member of the
Melos Ensemble
The Melos Ensemble is a group of musicians who started in 1950 in London to play chamber music in mixed instrumentation of string instruments, wind instruments and others. Benjamin Britten composed the chamber music for his '' War Requiem'' for th ...
, professor at the
Royal Northern College of Music
The Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM) is a conservatoire located in Manchester, England. It is one of four conservatoires associated with the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music. In addition to being a centre of music education ...
, author of the ''Yehudi Menuhin Music Guide "Bassoon"'', of ''The New Langwill Index'', and contributor to the ''
New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians
''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' is an encyclopedic dictionary of music and musicians. Along with the German-language ''Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart'', it is one of the largest reference works on the history and theo ...
''.
Biography and career as a performer
Born in London, Waterhouse studied at the
Royal College of Music
The Royal College of Music is a music school, conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the Undergraduate education, undergraduate to the Doctorate, doctoral level in a ...
, specifically the bassoon with
Archie Camden
Archie Camden (9 March 1888 – 16 February 1979) was a British bassoonist; he was a pedagogue and soloist of international acclaim. His career began in 1906 when he joined the Hallé Orchestra, where he became principal bassoonist in 1914. I ...
, viola with
Cecil Aronowitz
Cecil Aronowitz (4 March 19167 September 1978) was a British viola player, a founding member of the Melos Ensemble, a leading chamber musician and an influential teacher at the Royal College of Music and the Royal Northern College of Music.
...
, and harmony with the composer
Gordon Jacob
Gordon Percival Septimus Jacob CBE (5 July 18958 June 1984) was an English composer and teacher. He was a professor at the Royal College of Music in London from 1924 until his retirement in 1966, and published four books and many articles about ...
. From 1953 to 1955, he was second bassoonist in the orchestra of the
Royal Opera at Covent Garden at the time of
Maria Callas
Maria Callas . (born Sophie Cecilia Kalos; December 2, 1923 – September 16, 1977) was an American-born Greek soprano who was one of the most renowned and influential opera singers of the 20th century. Many critics praised her ''bel cant ...
,
Tito Gobbi
Tito Gobbi (24 October 19135 March 1984) was an Italian operatic baritone with an international reputation.
He made his operatic debut in Gubbio in 1935 as Count Rodolfo in Bellini's ''La sonnambula'' and quickly appeared in Italy's major opera ...
, and
Kirsten Flagstad
Kirsten Malfrid Flagstad (12 July 1895 – 7 December 1962) was a Norwegian opera singer, who was the outstanding Wagnerian soprano of her era. Her triumphant debut in New York on 2 February 1935 is one of the legends of opera. Giulio Gatti-Casa ...
. Later he stated that his most valuable lessons in phrasing were actually learned playing in the pit while accompanying opera singers.
[Paul B. Carls](_blank)
IDRS 1985 From 1955 until 1958 he played in the
Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana
The Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana (OSI; literal translation, Orchestra of Italian Switzerland) is a Swiss orchestra based in Lugano. The orchestra's primary concert venue is the ''Auditorio RSI''. The OSI also gives a concert series at the ...
in Lugano. He was the principal bassoonist in the
London Symphony Orchestra
The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London. Founded in 1904, the LSO is the oldest of London's orchestras, symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's ...
(1958–1965), and in 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 ...
(1965–1982), playing under such conductors as
Cantelli,
Toscanini
Arturo Toscanini (; ; March 25, 1867January 16, 1957) was an Italian conductor. He was one of the most acclaimed and influential musicians of the late 19th and early 20th century, renowned for his intensity, his perfectionism, his ear for orch ...
,
Furtwängler Furtwängler is a German surname, originally meaning a person from Furtwangen. Notable people with the surname include:
* Adolf Furtwängler (1853–1907), archaeologist and art historian
* Maria Furtwängler (born 1966), physician and actress
* P ...
,
Monteux
Monteux (; oc, Monteus) is a commune in the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France.
Geography
Monteux is near Carpentras, in middle of Comtat Venaissin, and around 20 km from Avignon, in the ...
,
Karajan,
Klemperer and
Boulez
Pierre Louis Joseph Boulez (; 26 March 1925 – 5 January 2016) was a French composer, conductor and writer, and the founder of several musical institutions. He was one of the dominant figures of post-war Western classical music.
Born in Mon ...
.
[William Waterhouse](_blank)
Guild Music profile 2000
Waterhouse was married to the pianist and music teacher
Elisabeth Waterhouse
Elisabeth Waterhouse (; born 28 February 1933) is an English pianist and music pedagogue. She founded the National Chamber Music Course, a summer school for young string players, in 1974, and has managed it since. She is the widow of the bassoo ...
. The composer and cellist
Graham Waterhouse
Graham Waterhouse (born 2 November 1962) is an English composer and cellist who specializes in chamber music. He has composed a cello concerto, ''Three Pieces for Solo Cello'' and ''Variations for Cello Solo'' for his own instrument, and string ...
is their son. Violinist and teacher Celia Milner of the BBC Symphony Orchestra and freelance violinist and teacher Lucy Waterhouse are their daughters.
William Waterhouse died in 2007 in
Florence
Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...
.
Chamber musician
William Waterhouse was a member of the
Melos Ensemble
The Melos Ensemble is a group of musicians who started in 1950 in London to play chamber music in mixed instrumentation of string instruments, wind instruments and others. Benjamin Britten composed the chamber music for his '' War Requiem'' for th ...
from 1959 and participated with the group in the premiere of the
War Requiem
The ''War Requiem'', Op. 66, is a large-scale setting of the Requiem composed by Benjamin Britten mostly in 1961 and completed in January 1962. The ''War Requiem'' was performed for the consecration of the new Coventry Cathedral, which was b ...
by
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 ...
, conducted by the composer. He recorded all the wind chamber music by
Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classical ...
, and works by
Nielsen,
Janáček,
Poulenc
Francis Jean Marcel Poulenc (; 7 January 189930 January 1963) was a French composer and pianist. His compositions include songs, solo piano works, chamber music, choral pieces, operas, ballets, and orchestral concert music. Among the best-kno ...
,
Schubert
Franz Peter Schubert (; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. Despite his short lifetime, Schubert left behind a vast ''oeuvre'', including more than 600 secular vocal wor ...
and
Jean Françaix
Jean René Désiré Françaix (; 23 May 1912, in Le Mans – 25 September 1997, in Paris) was a French neoclassical composer, pianist, and orchestrator, known for his prolific output and vibrant style.
Life
Françaix's natural gifts were encour ...
with the ensemble. He wrote in 1995: "It was the remarkable rapport between this pair of lower strings" (i.e.
Terence Weil
Terence Weil (9 December 1921 in London – 25 February 1995 in Figueras) was a British cellist, principal cellist of the English Chamber Orchestra, a founding member of the Melos Ensemble, a leading chamber musician and an influential teache ...
and
Cecil Aronowitz
Cecil Aronowitz (4 March 19167 September 1978) was a British viola player, a founding member of the Melos Ensemble, a leading chamber musician and an influential teacher at the Royal College of Music and the Royal Northern College of Music.
...
) "which remained constant throughout a succession of distinguished leaders, that gave a special distinction to this outstanding ensemble."
He recorded with the Melos Ensemble, its principal players
Richard Adeney
Richard Gilford Adeney (25 January 1920 – 16 December 2010) was a British flautist who played principal flute with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and the English Chamber Orchestra, was a soloist and a founding member of the Melos Ensemble. ...
and
William Bennett
William John Bennett (born July 31, 1943) is an American conservative politician and political commentator who served as secretary of education from 1985 to 1988 under President Ronald Reagan. He also held the post of director of the Office of ...
(flute),
Gervase de Peyer
Gervase Alan de Peyer (11 April 1926 – 4 February 2017) was an English clarinettist and conductor.
Professional career
Gervase Alan de Peyer was born in London, the eldest of three children of Everard Esmé Vivian de Peyer, and his wife, Edith ...
and Keith Puddy (clarinet), Stephen Trier (bass clarinet),
Peter Graeme
Graeme Peter Crump (1921 – 1 March 2012), known professionally as Peter Graeme and as 'Timmy' Crump to friends and family, was an English oboist and academic teacher. He was best known as the principal oboist of the Melos Ensemble.
Career
...
and Sarah Barrington (oboe),
Neill Sanders and James Buck (horn), Edgar Williams (bassoon),
Emanuel Hurwitz
Emanuel Hurwitz (7 May 1919 – 19 November 2006) was a British violinist. He was born in London to parents of Russian-Jewish ancestry.
He started playing the violin when he was five years old, and took up a scholarship at the Royal Academy of ...
and
Ivor McMahon
Ivor McMahon (1924–1972) was an English violinist. He played with notable orchestras including the Philharmonia Orchestra and the English Chamber Orchestra and is best known for playing second violin in the Melos Ensemble.
Career
In ...
(violin),
Cecil Aronowitz
Cecil Aronowitz (4 March 19167 September 1978) was a British viola player, a founding member of the Melos Ensemble, a leading chamber musician and an influential teacher at the Royal College of Music and the Royal Northern College of Music.
...
(viola),
Terence Weil
Terence Weil (9 December 1921 in London – 25 February 1995 in Figueras) was a British cellist, principal cellist of the English Chamber Orchestra, a founding member of the Melos Ensemble, a leading chamber musician and an influential teache ...
(cello),
Adrian Beers
Adrian Simon Beers MBE (6 January 1916 – 8 April 2004) was a British double bass player and teacher at the Royal College of Music and the Royal Northern College of Music. He was a principal player in the Philharmonia Orchestra and the Eng ...
(double bass),
Lamar Crowson
John Lamar Crowson (May 27, 1926 – August 25, 1998) was an American concert pianist and a chamber musician.'' Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' (2009)
Crowson was born in Tampa, Florida. His early education was in Portland, Oregon, wit ...
(piano):
* Beethoven:
** Quintet for piano and winds, Op. 16
** March for Sextet in B flat major, WoO 29
** Rondino in E flat major, WoO 25
**
Septet
A septet is a formation containing exactly seven members. It is commonly associated with musical groups but can be applied to any situation where seven similar or related objects are considered a single unit, such as a seven-line stanza of poetry. ...
**
Octet
Octet may refer to:
Music
* Octet (music), ensemble consisting of eight instruments or voices, or composition written for such an ensemble
** String octet, a piece of music written for eight string instruments
*** Octet (Mendelssohn), 1825 compos ...
** Duo No. 1 in C major, WoO 27
* Schubert:
Octet
Octet may refer to:
Music
* Octet (music), ensemble consisting of eight instruments or voices, or composition written for such an ensemble
** String octet, a piece of music written for eight string instruments
*** Octet (Mendelssohn), 1825 compos ...
*
Franz Berwald
Franz Adolf Berwald (23 July 1796 – 3 April 1868) was a Swedish Romantic composer. He made his living as an orthopedist and later as the manager of a saw mill and glass factory, and became more appreciated as a composer after his death than he ...
: Septet
* Carl Nielsen:
Wind Quintet
A wind quintet, also known as a woodwind quintet, is a group of five wind players (most commonly flute, oboe, clarinet, French horn and bassoon).
Unlike the string quartet (of 4 string instruments) with its homogeneous blend of sound color, the in ...
* Janáček: ''
Mládí'', ''
Concertino''
*
Francis Poulenc
Francis Jean Marcel Poulenc (; 7 January 189930 January 1963) was a French composer and pianist. His compositions include songs, solo piano works, chamber music, choral pieces, operas, ballets, and orchestral concert music. Among the best-kno ...
: Trio for Oboe, Bassoon & Piano, Sonata for Clarinet & Bassoon
*
Jean Françaix
Jean René Désiré Françaix (; 23 May 1912, in Le Mans – 25 September 1997, in Paris) was a French neoclassical composer, pianist, and orchestrator, known for his prolific output and vibrant style.
Life
Françaix's natural gifts were encour ...
: ''Divertissement'' for Oboe, Clarinet and Bassoon, ''Divertissement'' for Bassoon and String Quintet (dedicated to him)
*
Nikos Skalkottas
Nikos Skalkottas ( el, Νίκος Σκαλκώτας; 21 March 1904 – 19 September 1949) was a Greek composer of 20th-century classical music. A member of the Second Viennese School, he drew his influences from both the classical repert ...
: Octet
*
Richard Rodney Bennett
Sir Richard Rodney Bennett (29 March 193624 December 2012) was an English composer of film, TV and concert music, and also a jazz pianist and occasional vocalist. He was based in New York City from 1979 until his death there in 2012.Zachary Woo ...
: ''Calendar''
*
Gordon Crosse
Gordon Crosse (1 December 1937 – 21 November 2021) was an English composer.
Biography
Crosse was born in Bury, Lancashire on 1 December 1937, and in 1961 graduated from St Edmund Hall, Oxford with a first class honours degree in music, where h ...
: ''Concerto Da Camera''
*
Harrison Birtwistle
Sir Harrison Birtwistle (15 July 1934 – 18 April 2022) was an English composer of contemporary classical music best known for his operas, often based on mythological subjects. Among his many compositions, his better known works include ''Th ...
: ''Tragoedia''
*
Peter Maxwell Davies
Sir Peter Maxwell Davies (8 September 1934 – 14 March 2016) was an English composer and conductor, who in 2004 was made Master of the Queen's Music.
As a student at both the University of Manchester and the Royal Manchester College of Music ...
: ''Leopardi Fragments''
In 1974 he recorded Stockhausen's ''
Adieu'' with the
London Sinfonietta
The London Sinfonietta is an English contemporary chamber orchestra founded in 1968 and based in London.
The ensemble has headquarters at Kings Place and is Resident Orchestra at the Southbank Centre. Since its inaugural concert in 1968—givi ...
: Sebastian Bell (flute),
Janet Craxton
Janet Helen Rosemary Craxton (17 May 192918 July 1981) was an English oboe player and teacher. She was the youngest of the six children and the only daughter of the pianist and teacher Harold Craxton. Her older brothers included the artist John C ...
(oboe),
Antony Pay
Antony Pay (born 21 February 1945 in London) is a classical clarinettist. After gaining a place with the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain, with whom he performed the Mozart clarinet concerto at the age of 16, he studied at the Royal Acad ...
(clarinet) and John Butterworth (horn), conducted by the composer.
Teacher
William Waterhouse was a professor at the
Royal Northern College of Music
The Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM) is a conservatoire located in Manchester, England. It is one of four conservatoires associated with the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music. In addition to being a centre of music education ...
from 1966 until 1996, when he served as Curator of the Collection of Historic Musical Instruments. He was awarded Fellowship of the College in 1991. In 1972, he became visiting professor at
Indiana University
Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana.
Campuses
Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI.
*Indiana Universit ...
, Bloomington. He was also guest professor in
Melbourne
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
and
Banff.
Juror of international competitions
He served on the jury of the
ARD Musikwettbewerb in Munich in 1965, 1975, 1984 and 1990, as well as in Prague, Eindhoven, Markneukirchen, Potsdam and Victoria BC.
''The Proud Bassoon''
William Waterhouse was celebrated in his 80th birthyear on 16 April 2011 in a Memorial Concert ''The Proud Bassoon'' in
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 leadin ...
. Players included his three children,
Gervase de Peyer
Gervase Alan de Peyer (11 April 1926 – 4 February 2017) was an English clarinettist and conductor.
Professional career
Gervase Alan de Peyer was born in London, the eldest of three children of Everard Esmé Vivian de Peyer, and his wife, Edith ...
and
Timothy Brown as former members of the
Melos Ensemble
The Melos Ensemble is a group of musicians who started in 1950 in London to play chamber music in mixed instrumentation of string instruments, wind instruments and others. Benjamin Britten composed the chamber music for his '' War Requiem'' for th ...
, players who succeeded him such as
Roger Birnstingl
Roger Birnstingl is a British Classical music, classical bassoonist. He started playing the bassoon at age 14, Educated at Bedales School and later studied with Archie Camden at the Royal College of Music in London. He has served as principal ba ...
(
Orchestre de la Suisse Romande
The Orchestre de la Suisse Romande (OSR) is a Swiss symphony orchestra, based in Geneva at the Victoria Hall. In addition to symphony concerts, the OSR performs as the opera orchestra in productions at the Grand Théâtre de Genève.
History
Er ...
) and
Julie Price (
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 ...
), bassoonists from around the world, such as
Jim Kopp
Jim or JIM may refer to:
* Jim (given name), a given name
* Jim, a diminutive form of the given name James
* Jim, a short form of the given name Jimmy
* OPCW-UN Joint Investigative Mechanism
* ''Jim'' (comics), a series by Jim Woodring
* ''Jim' ...
,
Lyndon Watts
Lyndon Jeffrey Frank Watts (born 19 January 1976) is an Australian bassoonist. He is principal bassoonist of the Münchner Philharmoniker and an academic teacher.
Professional career
Watts studied the bassoon from 1988 and completed his senio ...
and
Takashi Yamakami
is a masculine Japanese given name.
Possible writings
The name Takashi can have multiple different meanings depending on which kanji is used to write it. Some possible writings of the name include:
*江詩 - "estuary , inlet, poem"
*隆 - "prospe ...
, his students and a bassoon quartet from the
RNCM
The Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM) is a conservatoire located in Manchester, England. It is one of four conservatoires associated with the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music. In addition to being a centre of music education ...
, led by
Stefano Canuti
Stefano is the Italian form of the masculine given name Στέφανος (Stefanos, Stephen). The name is of Greek origin, Στέφανος, meaning a person who made a significant achievement and has been crowned. In Orthodox Christianity the ac ...
. All the music played related to him, his own arrangement of
Giovanni Gabrieli
Giovanni Gabrieli (c. 1554/1557 – 12 August 1612) was an Italian composer and organist. He was one of the most influential musicians of his time, and represents the culmination of the style of the Venetian School, at the time of the shift f ...
's ''Sonata Pian' e Forte'' for two bassoon choirs, music dedicated to him, such as
Gordon Jacob
Gordon Percival Septimus Jacob CBE (5 July 18958 June 1984) was an English composer and teacher. He was a professor at the Royal College of Music in London from 1924 until his retirement in 1966, and published four books and many articles about ...
's Suite and the
Divertissement ''Divertissement'' (from the French 'diversion' or 'amusement') is used, in a similar sense to the Italian 'divertimento', for a light piece of music for a small group of players, however the French term has additional meanings.
During the 17th and ...
of
Jean Francaix
Jean may refer to:
People
* Jean (female given name)
* Jean (male given name)
* Jean (surname)
Fictional characters
* Jean Grey, a Marvel Comics character
* Jean Valjean, fictional character in novel ''Les Misérables'' and its adaptations
* Jea ...
, and music composed in his memory,
his son's ''
Bright Angel
''Bright Angel'' is a 1990 American drama film directed by Michael Fields, and starring Dermot Mulroney, Lili Taylor, and Sam Shepard. The film follows two teenagers, George and the transient Lucy, who travel from their home in Montana to Wyoming ...
'' and ''
Epitaphium''. The concert ended with the final movement from Schubert's
Octet
Octet may refer to:
Music
* Octet (music), ensemble consisting of eight instruments or voices, or composition written for such an ensemble
** String octet, a piece of music written for eight string instruments
*** Octet (Mendelssohn), 1825 compos ...
, which he had often played and twice recorded with the Melos Ensemble.
The program book includes a section of memories, titled "recollected in tranquility, a celebration", including a contribution of
Karlheinz Stockhausen
Karlheinz Stockhausen (; 22 August 1928 – 5 December 2007) was a German composer, widely acknowledged by critics as one of the most important but also controversial composers of the 20th and early 21st centuries. He is known for his groun ...
who wrote in 2007:
Not only in rehearsal, but also in many hours before and after rehearsals and recordings, and during our trips with the ensemble, I had the pleasure and privilege of sharing with William Waterhouse his rich cultural knowledge and enthusiasm. He was a musician as we all should be: excellent as a performer, open minded, curious, well educated, joyous, full of humour. I greet him in the beyond and hope to meet him again."
Music dedicated to William Waterhouse
Gordon Jacob
Gordon Percival Septimus Jacob CBE (5 July 18958 June 1984) was an English composer and teacher. He was a professor at the Royal College of Music in London from 1924 until his retirement in 1966, and published four books and many articles about ...
dedicated to him the ''Suite for bassoon and string quartet'', first performed 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 Rac ...
on 8 July 1969 together with
Emanuel Hurwitz
Emanuel Hurwitz (7 May 1919 – 19 November 2006) was a British violinist. He was born in London to parents of Russian-Jewish ancestry.
He started playing the violin when he was five years old, and took up a scholarship at the Royal Academy of ...
,
Ivor McMahon
Ivor McMahon (1924–1972) was an English violinist. He played with notable orchestras including the Philharmonia Orchestra and the English Chamber Orchestra and is best known for playing second violin in the Melos Ensemble.
Career
In ...
,
Cecil Aronowitz
Cecil Aronowitz (4 March 19167 September 1978) was a British viola player, a founding member of the Melos Ensemble, a leading chamber musician and an influential teacher at the Royal College of Music and the Royal Northern College of Music.
...
and
Terence Weil
Terence Weil (9 December 1921 in London – 25 February 1995 in Figueras) was a British cellist, principal cellist of the English Chamber Orchestra, a founding member of the Melos Ensemble, a leading chamber musician and an influential teache ...
, and the ''Partita'' for solo bassoon which Waterhouse premiered on 27 October 1977 in
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 leadin ...
.
Jean Françaix
Jean René Désiré Françaix (; 23 May 1912, in Le Mans – 25 September 1997, in Paris) was a French neoclassical composer, pianist, and orchestrator, known for his prolific output and vibrant style.
Life
Françaix's natural gifts were encour ...
dedicated his 1942 ''
Divertissement ''Divertissement'' (from the French 'diversion' or 'amusement') is used, in a similar sense to the Italian 'divertimento', for a light piece of music for a small group of players, however the French term has additional meanings.
During the 17th and ...
'' for bassoon and string quintet (or orchestra) to him when it was published in 1968, also in 1994 his Trio for oboe, bassoon and piano.
Victor Bruns
Victor Bruns (russian: Виктор Брунс; 15 August 1904 – 6 December 1996) was a German composer and bassoonist. He played with the Leningrad Opera, the Volksoper Berlin and the Staatskapelle Berlin. As a composer, he is known for ...
dedicated his ''Trio op. 97 für
Fagottino, Fagott und Kontrafagott'' to William Waterhouse. Stanley Weiner wrote a ''Sonata for Bassoon Solo'' op. 32.
Graham Waterhouse
Graham Waterhouse (born 2 November 1962) is an English composer and cellist who specializes in chamber music. He has composed a cello concerto, ''Three Pieces for Solo Cello'' and ''Variations for Cello Solo'' for his own instrument, and string ...
dedicated ''
Mouvements d'Harmonie
''Mouvements d'Harmonie'' op. 29 is a composition in one movement for wind ensemble, written by Graham Waterhouse in 1991, dedicated to William Waterhouse. It was first performed on 24 May 1991 in the Purcell Room, London. The piece was publishe ...
''
and ''Hexenreigen''
to him and composed ''
Phoenix Arising
''Phoenix Arising'' is a composition for bassoon and piano by Graham Waterhouse, who wrote it in 2008 in memory of his father, the bassoonist and musicologist William Waterhouse. It premiered in London in 2009, and was published by Accolade the sa ...
'' for bassoon and piano
and ''
Epitaphium'' as a tribute to his father's memory. In 2008 he composed the bassoon quartet ''
Bright Angel
''Bright Angel'' is a 1990 American drama film directed by Michael Fields, and starring Dermot Mulroney, Lili Taylor, and Sam Shepard. The film follows two teenagers, George and the transient Lucy, who travel from their home in Montana to Wyoming ...
'', in memory of a hike with his father through the
Grand Canyon
The Grand Canyon (, yuf-x-yav, Wi:kaʼi:la, , Southern Paiute language: Paxa’uipi, ) is a steep-sided canyon carved by the Colorado River in Arizona, United States. The Grand Canyon is long, up to wide and attains a depth of over a m ...
.
Author and editor
He contributed to the ''New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' and edited for the publishers ''Musica Rara'',
Hofmeister, and
Universal Edition
Universal Edition (UE) is a classical music publishing firm. Founded in 1901 in Vienna, they originally intended to provide the core classical works and educational works to the Austrian market (which had until then been dominated by Leipzig-bas ...
. Among the rare music he rediscovered is a sonata for bassoon and piano by
Anton Liste (1772–1832) that he recorded in 1998 with William Fong. Lyndesay G. Langwill, who had published his ''Index of Musical Wind-Instrument Makers'' in book form from 1960 in six editions, had designated William Waterhouse as his successor and had left him his archive of correspondence and books, before he died in 1983.
After ten years of research ''The New Langwill Index: A dictionary of musical wind-instrument makers and inventors'' was published.
This important work of reference was awarded the C.B. Oldman prize in 1995. Posthumously he received the
Curt Sachs
Curt Sachs (; 29 June 1881 – 5 February 1959) was a German musicologist. He was one of the founders of modern organology (the study of musical instruments). Among his contributions was the Hornbostel–Sachs system, which he created with Erich ...
Award of the
American Musical Instrument Society The American Musical Instrument Society (AMIS) was formed in 1971 "to promote study of the history, design, and use of musical instruments in all cultures and from all periods" (the branch of musicology known as organology). Based in the United Stat ...
on 31 May 2008.
Selected publications
*''The New Langwill Index: A dictionary of musical wind-instrument makers and inventors'', 1st edition 1993
*''Bassoon (Yehudi Menuhin Music Guides)'', Kahn & Averill, London 2001, 2005. , 2003.
Roger Birnstingl
Roger Birnstingl is a British Classical music, classical bassoonist. He started playing the bassoon at age 14, Educated at Bedales School and later studied with Archie Camden at the Royal College of Music in London. He has served as principal ba ...
wrote in his review for the
British Double Reed Society
The British Double Reed Society (BDRS) is a society for players of double reed instruments in the United Kingdom and around the world. It was founded in 1988 to "promote and enhance the interests of all double reed players, whether students, ama ...
:
There can be no-one alive more qualified than WW to write the definitive book on the bassoon.
*''Fagott'' Translation of ''Bassoon'' to German by Klaus Gillessen,
Bärenreiter
Bärenreiter (Bärenreiter-Verlag) is a German classical music publishing house based in Kassel. The firm was founded by Karl Vötterle (1903–1975) in Augsburg in 1923, and moved to Kassel in 1927, where it still has its headquarters; it also ...
, 2006,
*''Weber's Bassoon Concerto Op. 75: The Manuscript and Printed Sources Compared
Double reed societies
Waterhouse was one of the co-founders of the
British Double Reed Society
The British Double Reed Society (BDRS) is a society for players of double reed instruments in the United Kingdom and around the world. It was founded in 1988 to "promote and enhance the interests of all double reed players, whether students, ama ...
in 1988 and was a member of the Society's Committee until his death in 2007. The ''IDRS 2009'', the annual conference of the
International Double Reed Society
The International Double Reed Society (IDRS), is an organization that promotes the interests of double reed players, instrument manufacturers and enthusiasts. Services provided by the IDRS include an international oboe and bassoon competition, ...
in Birmingham, was dedicated to him and
Evelyn Barbirolli
Evelyn, Lady Barbirolli OBE (24 January 191125 January 2008) was an English oboist, and the wife of the eminent conductor Sir John Barbirolli.
She was born Evelyn Rothwell, and was known professionally by that name until after she was widowed, ...
.
Legacy
The International Chair in Chamber Music & Bassoon of the RNCM is titled in his name.
References
External links
*
*
Honorary Members of the International Double Reed Society – Part 1: to 1988 / Victor BrunsWilliam Waterhouse on Victor Bruns in ''The Double Reed, Vol. 9, No. 2''
IDRS
The International Double Reed Society (IDRS), is an organization that promotes the interests of double reed players, instrument manufacturers and enthusiasts. Services provided by the IDRS include an international oboe and bassoon competition, an ...
1986
RNCM Collection of Historic Musical Instruments: Remembering William WaterhouseRoyal Northern College of Music
The Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM) is a conservatoire located in Manchester, England. It is one of four conservatoires associated with the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music. In addition to being a centre of music education ...
, 14 April 2011
* Sebastian Taylor
Fair stands the wind for the WigmoreThe Independent
''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...
Camden New Journal, 7 April 2011
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Waterhouse, William
1931 births
2007 deaths
English classical bassoonists
English musicologists
Alumni of the Royal College of Music
20th-century classical musicians
20th-century British musicians
20th-century British musicologists
People educated at Whitgift School