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
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 ...
, 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