Elliot Forbes (August 20, 1917,

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

, Massachusetts – January 9, 2006, in Cambridge), known as "El", was an American conductor and

musicologist Musicology is the academic, research-based study of music, as opposed to musical composition or performance. Musicology research combines and intersects with many fields, including psychology, sociology, acoustics, neurology, natural sciences, f ...

noted for his

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...

scholarship.

Life and career

Forbes came from a

Boston Brahmin The Boston Brahmins are members of Boston's historic upper class. From the late 19th century through the mid-20th century, they were often associated with a cultivated New England accent, Harvard University, Anglicanism, and traditional Britis ...

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

; his father, Edward W. Forbes, was the director of

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher lear ...

's Fogg Art Museum. He attended Harvard, receiving a BA in 1941 and an MA in 1947, both in music; he studied with

Walter Piston Walter Hamor Piston, Jr. (January 20, 1894 – November 12, 1976), was an American composer of classical music, music theorist, and professor of music at Harvard University. Life Piston was born in Rockland, Maine at 15 Ocean Street to Walter ...

, and while he was a graduate student, he was assistant conductor of the Harvard Glee Club. From 1947 to 58, he taught at

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

, but in 1958 he returned to Harvard and remained there for the rest of his life as Fanny Peabody Professor of Music (and, after 1984, Professor Emeritus.) He was the chief conductor of the Harvard Glee Club and Radcliffe Choral Society from 1958 to 1970; his students included Isaiah Jackson, now director of the Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra of Boston, and William Christie, founder and director of the European

baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

ensemble Les Arts Florissants. While conductor, he led both groups on a tour around the world in 1967. Aside from conducting, his scholarly work focused on the life and work of

, particularly his choral music. His edition of '' Thayer's Life of Beethoven'' (1964) has been called "a substantial contribution to Beethoven scholarship." He also wrote two notable volumes of the history of music at Harvard, and edited the Harvard-Radcliffe Choral Music Series. He was on the boards of the

New England Conservatory The New England Conservatory of Music (NEC) is a Private college, private music school in Boston, Massachusetts. The conservatory is located on Huntington Avenue along Avenue of the Arts (Boston), the Avenue of the Arts near Boston Symphony Ha ...

, Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra, and

Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum is an art museum in Boston, Massachusetts, which houses significant examples of European, Asian, and American art. Its collection includes paintings, sculpture, tapestries, and decorative arts. It was found ...

, whose piano is dedicated in his honor. He received Harvard's Alumni Medal in 1991 and an honorary doctorate in 2003. Right up to his death, he remained an unflagging supporter of undergraduate performers, frequently attending events at which he was the only faculty member present. Forbes was married to Kathleen Brooks Allen. His grandson is musician Ed Droste from

Grizzly Bear The grizzly bear (''Ursus arctos horribilis''), also known as the North American brown bear or simply grizzly, is a population or subspecies of the brown bear inhabiting North America. In addition to the mainland grizzly (''Ursus arctos horr ...

Notable works

*''A Neglected Work in Beethoven's Choral Music: the Funeral Cantata'', Essays on Music in Honor of Archibald Thompson Davison (Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1957), 253–61 *Ed.: ''Thayer's Life of Beethoven'' (Princeton, NJ, 1964, 2/1967) *''The Choral Music of Beethoven'', American Choral Review, xi/3 (1968–9) hole issue*''Beethoven as a Choral Composer'', PRMA, xcvii (1970–71), 69–82 *''Beethoven's Choral Music: a Reappraisal'', American Choral Review, xxiv/2–3 (1982), 67–82 *''A History of Music at Harvard'' (Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1988–93)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Forbes, Elliot American male conductors (music) Beethoven scholars Harvard College alumni Princeton University faculty Harvard University faculty 1917 births 2006 deaths Musicians from Cambridge, Massachusetts 20th-century American musicologists 20th-century American conductors (music) 20th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century German male musicians Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni