Aberdeen.

Ctiy in Scotland. Bishop Elphinstone founded the University of

Aberdeen in 1495 with stringently chosen prebendary priests to sing
the daily Divine Office. From 1662 to 1720 John Forbes, printer to
the town council, was Scotland's only notable music publisher, and
during the 1760s and 1770s John Gregory, James Beattie and
Alexander Gerard, all professors at King's or Marischal universities,
were the leading British writers on musical aesthetics. From about
1890 to 1930 Aberdeen was the centre of Scots fiddle playing and
folksong collecting, and the university library houses the Greig
Duncan collection of north-east songs. Aberdeen's most
distinguished native musicians are the operatic soprano Mary
Garden, the tenor Neil Mackie, the percussionist Evelyn Glennie, the
folksinger Jeannie Robertson and composers Martin Dalby, John
McLeod and Judith Weir.
Aberdeen's earliest-known musical institutions are the St Nicholas,
St Machar and King's College song schools, which were in existence
at the beginning of the 16th century. During the course of the century
the composers John Fethy, John Black and Andrew Kemp were
employed as maisters at the St Nicholas song school. As church
schools the first two of these establishments survived the
Reformation and continued to teach singing, theory and instrumental
playing until about 1750, when they were eclipsed by the
Enlightenment and by new standards of international
professionalism. In 1748 the Aberdeen Musical Society was formed
to give weekly aristocratic concerts, initially of Italian Baroque music,
but later also featuring music by Handel, Arne, Haydn and works by
the Scottish composers Lord Kelly, Robert Barber and John Ross.
The society was disbanded in 1809 due to changes in popular taste.
St Paul's Episcopal Chapel, opened in 1722, held services with
Anglican cathedral choral music and organ music, both new
phenomena for post-Reformation Scotland. St Paul's organists
included Andrew Tait (to 1774), Barber (177483) and Ross (1783
1836).
Charles Sanford Terry, lecturer at the university from 1898 and

professor of history from 1903, revived music there, and under his
direction the choral society (instituted 1875) and orchestra gave
several first Scottish performances. Terry founded an annual choral
festival in 1909 to which many distinguished musicians, including
Elgar, were invited. Since 1945 musical performance has rapidly
increased with the formation of Haddo House Choral and Operatic
Society (1945), Aberdeen Choral Society (1946), Aberdeen Bach
Choir (originally 1912, re-established in 1956), the International
Youth Festival (1973), Aberdeen Sinfonietta (1986) and other
societies promoting classical repertory and newly commissioned
works. The Alternative Festival (founded 1982) and The Lemon Tree
(founded 1992) promote non-classical music, while the Doric Festival
(founded 1994) and the university's Elphinstone Institute (established
1995) preserve and promote the distinctive cultural heritage of northeast Scotland. In 1995 the Yggdrasil Quartet of Aberdeen, funded by
the city, the university and the Scottish Arts Council, was appointed
as the first resident professional music group. Both city and
university promote regular series of concerts, for which Weir, Dalby,
McLeod, Cresswell and Peter Maxwell Davies have all written
specially commissioned works. The North-East of Scotland Music
School (established 1975) hosts visiting international tutors. The
Royal Scottish National Orchestra, BBC Scottish SO, Scottish
Chamber Orchestra, BT Scottish Ensemble, Scottish Opera and
Cappella Nova are all regular visitors to Aberdeen.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
H.G. Farmer: Music Making in the Olden Days: the Story of the
Aberdeen Concerts, 17481801 (London, 1950)
H.B. Watson: A Calendar and Evaluation of Musical Events in
Aberdeenshire in the Late 18th and 19th Centuries (MMus
thesis, U. of Aberdeen, 1974)
L.J. Macfarlane: William Elphinstone and the Kingdom of
Scotland, 14311514: the Struggle for Order (Aberdeen, 1985)
A.I. Shiel: Aberdeen Bach Choir: its Origins and
History (Aberdeen, 3/1996)
DAVID JOHNSON/ROGER B. WILLIAMS, CHARLES FOSTER