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and RAM Club Prizes in 1929 and 1930. They took outside engagements including a performance at 11 Downing Street. Forbes was encouraged to take up the viola by
Herbert Withers, who coached the quartet. He gradually specialised on the viola, for both musical and pragmatic reasons.
175:, whose intricate system of exercises revolutionised string playing; he felt he had benefited enormously from this period: "Sevcik taught me how to practise and how to tackle difficult passages." After his return to England, Forbes had lessons from Raymond Jeremy and
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in London, where he studied violin, viola and composition. His composition professor at the RAM was
Theodore Holland who wrote a Suite for Forbes. Forbes had a number of violin teachers at the RAM. His first teacher was Sydney Robjohns, followed by
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Throughout his working life, but especially in retirement, he worked on one of his most enduring legacies as a musician, namely an extensive series of arrangements (including pieces by
159:. He was part of the premier string quartet at the RAM, with David Carl Taylor playing second violin, Gwynne Edwards on Viola and David Ffrancon Thomas on cello. The quartet won the
146:, where his parents kept a jeweller's shop. He first learnt the violin from his father, who was a Scottish country fiddler. Showing promise, at the age of 16 he was sent to the
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were the music he chose to listen to on his deathbed. Forbes remained with the
Stratton for the rest of its existence as such.
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which contained a number of small groups of chamber music players. He toured the UK in a piano quintet which included
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241:(FRAM) in London, and in 1954 he became professor of viola and chamber music there. He made his
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and classical music arranger. From 1964 to 1974 he was Head of Music for
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debut as a soloist on 14 September 1956 playing the world premiere of
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At the start of the Second World War, Forbes was joint leader of the
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In 1937 Forbes married Mary Hunt (died 1997). They had two sons,
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and James
Whitehead. He also made many appearances in
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191:set the direction of his career. The Stratton was
126:(16 November 1909 – 25 June 1997) was a Scottish
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364:Forbes, Watson (1994).
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