No . 130 The Trusty Servant
Vox Senum
Angus Watson Martin Pickard ( Coll , 69-73 ) adds his tribute to those of TS128 & 129 : A musical boy , I was very lucky that my time at Winchester coincided with John Thorn ’ s Headmastership and with Angus Watson ’ s arrival as Master of Music . Winchester had always had a solid musical tradition and Angus ’ s immediate predecessors included some distinguished figures . But Angus , a violinist in a job traditionally occupied by organist / choirmasters , brought a new energy , a new connection to the professional musical world and a new emphasis on high-quality instrumental teaching . This was reflected not just in the appointment of Robert Bottone as piano teacher ( 70- ) but across the whole musical life of the school . So for example , under Angus ’ s management the school ’ s subscription concerts brought a glittering array of performers to New Hall . I particularly remember the pianist Clifford Curzon , the oboist Neil Black , the soprano Sheila Armstrong ( singing Britten ’ s Les Illuminations with Angus conducting the excellent Bournemouth Sinfonietta ) and the countertenor James Bowman accompanied on the harpsichord by Christopher Hogwood .
Group music-making among boys and staff also flourished . The stand-out memory for me is a performance of the Fourth Brandenburg Concerto in New Hall with individual parts taken by Angus himself ( violin and conductor ), Giles Lewin ( Q , 66-70 ; I , 70-74 ) and Michael Fontes ( D , 55-60 ; Co Ro , 66-04 ) ( recorders ) and myself ( harpsichord continuo ). This was the era when Julian Smith ( 53-92 ) established the Kingsgate Singers and when Tony Ayres ( 69-07 ), together with a group of Furleyites , started
Cantores Episcopi . This all predated the era of big Win Coll opera productions , but the early 70s were already a great time to be a musician at Winchester . Much of the credit must go to Angus .
Having himself studied with Adrian Boult , Angus gave me my first conducting lessons . He taught me not just about baton technique but also , more importantly , about rehearsal planning , rehearsal psychology and time management . Decades later , I still treasure pieces of his advice . In his lessons for individuals or smaller groups I sensed a great warmth and concern for us pupils . I still remember the deep emotion with which , in an A-level lesson at his house , he discussed Schumann ’ s Frauenliebe und Leben .
Family , as Robert Bottone wrote , was very important to him . He also went out of his way to help me , a teenager obsessed with the music of Michael Tippett , to interview the composer for a short-lived school magazine . Tippett was a close family friend of Angus ’ s
Angus Watson in the Warden ’ s Garden wife Alison . Angus not only set up the interview but also drove me across to the great man ’ s home in Wiltshire . Gestures like this , way beyond the call of schoolmasterly duty , will stay in the memory for ever .
A new timetable in the early 1970s Dr Roger Baxter ( Co Ro , 70-81 ) recalls : Our daughter was born in April 1972 and was the last don ’ s baby to earn the school a Half Rem ; I think John Thorn thought that he might have to award too many if the practice continued !
I was elected Secretary of Common Room in 1972 when Dick Massen ( 64- 98 ) moved into Trant ’ s , a post I held until I succeeded John Manisty ( 38-87 ) as Under Master in 1976 . However , I think that during 1973 / 4 JLT had put me in charge of the timetable which he wanted transformed , a job I held until I moved to Sedbergh in 1982 . The timetable that Win Coll was using was effectively one devised by CV Durell ( 1904-44 ) in the 1930s ; his philosophy was that mathematicians didn ’ t teach in the afternoons , nor on Saturdays , as it wasn ’ t a subject appropriate for teaching at those times . The timetable had been tinkered with here and there and mathematicians were teaching on some afternoons but still not on Saturdays . Also , most div dons were teaching English , History , Latin and Divinity ; Science was not taught to all and it would be quite possible for a bright A-ladder man never to have any Science lessons , until John Spice ( 59-72 ) brought in Physical Science for the many , but that hadn ’ t solved the problem completely . So JLT ’ s ploy to put a mathematician in charge of devising a new timetable was a cunning one ! I devised the blocking system and this enabled boys to be
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