Waterhouse was married to the pianist and music teacher Elisabeth Waterhouse. The composer and cellist Graham Waterhouse 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 was a member of the Melos Ensemble from 1959 and participated with the group in the premiere of the War Requiem by Benjamin Britten, conducted by the composer. He recorded all the wind chamber music by Beethoven, and works by Nielsen, Janáček, Poulenc, Schubert and Jean Françaix with the ensemble. He wrote in 1995: "It was the remarkable rapport between this pair of lower strings" (i.e. Terence Weil and Cecil Aronowitz) "which remained constant throughout a succession of distinguished leaders, that gave a special distinction to this outstanding ensemble."[5]
In 1974 he recorded Stockhausen's Adieu with the London Sinfonietta: Sebastian Bell (flute), Janet Craxton (oboe), Antony Pay (clarinet) and John Butterworth (horn), conducted by the composer.
Teacher
William Waterhouse was a professor at the Royal Northern College of Music from 1966 until 1996, when he served as Curator of the Collection of Historic Musical Instruments.[7] He was awarded Fellowship of the College in 1991.[8] In 1972, he became visiting professor at Indiana University, Bloomington. He was also guest professor in Melbourne and Banff.[9]
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.[3]
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. Players included his three children, Gervase de Peyer and Timothy Brown as former members of the Melos Ensemble, players who succeeded him such as Roger Birnstingl (Orchestre de la Suisse Romande) and Julie Price (BBC Symphony Orchestra), bassoonists from around the world, such as Jim Kopp, Lyndon Watts and Takashi Yamakami, his students and a bassoon quartet from the RNCM, led by Stefano Canuti. All the music played related to him, his own arrangement of Giovanni Gabrieli's Sonata Pian' e Forte for two bassoon choirs, music dedicated to him, such as Gordon Jacob's Suite and the Divertissement of Jean Francaix, and music composed in his memory, his son's Bright Angel and Epitaphium. The concert ended with the final movement from Schubert's Octet, which he had often played and twice recorded with the Melos Ensemble.[10][11] The program book includes a section of memories, titled "recollected in tranquility, a celebration", including a contribution of Karlheinz Stockhausen 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."[12][13]
He contributed to the New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians and edited for the publishers Musica Rara, Hofmeister, and Universal Edition. 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.[24] 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.[2] After ten years of research The New Langwill Index: A dictionary of musical wind-instrument makers and inventors was published.[25] This important work of reference was awarded the C.B. Oldman prize in 1995.[26] Posthumously he received the Curt Sachs Award of the American Musical Instrument Society on 31 May 2008.[27]
Selected publications
The New Langwill Index: A dictionary of musical wind-instrument makers and inventors, 1st edition 1993[25]
The International Chair in Chamber Music & Bassoon of the RNCM is titled in his name.[31]
References
^Emerson, June (9 November 2007). "Obituary: William Waterhouse". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 10 November 2008. William Waterhouse, Eminent bassoonist and a leading expert on the instrument's history and music
^Bassoon & Piano Sonatas by Anton Liste Guildmusic, German/English, quote: It is a rare opportunity to hear the masterly artistry of William Waterhouse, whose recordings are, sadly, too few, especially as a soloist. No other bassoonist in the world plays like Bill. His phrasing ability, ease of performance, style, and fabulous technique make him a "bassoonist's bassoonist".
^"IDRS 2009". Retrieved 27 August 2009. The IDRS 2009 will be dedicated to the memory of two great protagonists and personalities of the double reed – William Waterhouse and Evelyn Barbirolli. (Programme Book, p. 8)
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