Obituary: Sir Edward Downes - a conductor of quiet distinction
From Birmingham bus conductor to war-time fire-watcher, Arts Correspondent Terry Grimley looks back at the colourful life of Sir Edward Downes.
For a man who conducted nearly 1,000 performances at the Royal Opera House and had the distinction of conducting the first performance at the iconic Sydney Opera House, it may seem surprising that Sir Edward Downes was not more famous.
But in a field which has produced more than its share of flamboyant self-publicists, Birmingham-born Downes was the embodiment of quiet integrity and professionalism. The respect he commanded among his fellow musicians was out of proportion to his relatively low public profile.
Born in Aston in 1924, he liked to say that his career as a conductor began when he sold tickets on Midland Red buses during the Second World War.
He was also a part-time fire-watcher, defending the roof of the Town Hall, while studying for a music degree at Birmingham University. Other early jobs included hauling coal and cleaning floors at the Austin factory, and he also sat in as a horn player with the City of Birmingham Orchestra, as the CBSO was then known.
A lifelong connection with his home city was his passion for Aston Villa, which necessitated keeping in touch with results wherever his international career took him.
In 1998, just before making his Symphony Hall debut conducting Verdi’s Requiem, he recalled: “My father took me to Villa Park when I was very young and then I used to go by myself with various other boys when they opened the doors at half-time. You could collect beer bottles and get the deposits back on them.
