Derek Watson was born in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1948. He studied music at the University of Edinburgh from 1967 to 1971. As an actor, he performed under the name Derwent Watson at the Citizens Theatre in Glasgow. After he retired from the theater in 1994, Watson opened Linton Books.
He also wrote several biographies of classical music composers. He wrote Richard Wagner: A Biography and edited the Dictionary of Music Quotations. He also contributed several volumes to the Master Musicians series of books including Bruckner and Liszt. He died September 17, 2018 at the age of 69.
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