No.128
The Trusty Servant
Angus Watson
(Master of Music, 70-83) died on 9 th September, 2019
Nicholas Wilks
(Q, 70-73; Master of Music 04-15;
Second Master 15-) remembers:
Singing as a Quirister under Angus
was always memorable. My first
concert with him was a Messiah
in the Cathedral, and the sheer
rhythmic buoyancy he elicited was
remarkable. Given the unwieldly
size of the choir, and the early 1970s
fashion for elephantine tempi and
sclerotic textures, in the Cathedral’s
cavernous acoustic, this was
invigoratingly radical. Angus took
enormous care over the preparation
of his performances, not only in his
mastery of the score itself, but in
his research into the historical and
biographical context of the work.
He once told me that he considered
an understanding of this context
essential to an understanding of
the music, and this was beautifully
reflected in his informative and witty
programme notes. Above all, he
had a wonderful instinct for musical
potential, a gift which enabled him
to develop the school’s ensembles,
whether in the field of orchestras
or string quartets. I will never
forget an ardent Tchaikovsky Fifth
Symphony in New Hall, his own
playing in Chapel of Haydn’s Seven
Last Words, or his patient coaching
of student conductors in Brahms’s
First Symphony. Keith Pusey, David
Thomas and I were fortunate indeed
to inherit such a legacy.
Angus with Robert Bottone
and Lisa Wilson
Captain William Miles Kington DSO
Royal Welch Fusiliers (D, 1889-90)
Lt Col (ret’d) Michael Wallis
(Co Ro, 86-) reports on a Rededication
Service at Tyne Cot and a
commemoration in War Cloister.
On the 19th June, Captain Kington’s
remains were rededicated in Tyne Cot
cemetery below the Passchendaele
ridge: he had remained unidentified
for nearly 105 years. A new headstone
was erected over his grave, but this
time with his name. A meticulous
sleuthing process, by multiple agencies
and individuals, had produced
enough evidence to convince the
MOD and the CWGC that these
were indeed the remains of Captain
Kington. The threads of his DSO
ribbon, won in South Africa in 1902,
were a clinching piece of the jigsaw.
Present were four great grandchildren.
I laid a wreath on behalf of the
school; Dr James Webster also
represented the Wykehamical
community.
On 20th October 2019, exactly 105
years to the date of Captain Kington’s
death, a ceremony was held in War
Cloister opposite the panel on which
his name appears. He had been
killed during the 1st Battle of Ypres,
hit by a German shell in the area
of Zonnebeke village. An honour
guard of senior cadets formed up
before his name and the Headmaster,
Contingent Commander Lt Col Sam
Hart, College Chaplain Revd Justin
White and guests were present. A
cross of poppies was laid by his great-
9
granddaughter Mrs Sophie Jones. To
my knowledge this is the first occasion
of an unknown, fallen Wykehamist