ANOTHER STRING TO HER BOW
Born in Calcutta, Cynthia was the daughter of Caroline Freeman, a nurse who was working as a nanny for a family called Muir, who were Scottish jute merchants.
Being an unmarried mother, Caroline was told she had to give up the baby or she would be dismissed. She refused to give Cynthia up and immediately resigned before she could be fired.
Caroline got a job working as a nurse at the Eden Hospital in Calcutta, the very place where Cynthia had been born.
Cynthia was baptised in St Paul’s Cathedral in Calcutta and was given a moonstone bracelet as a christening present by the Maharajah of Cooch Behar.
Her mother took Cynthia back to England when she was just three months old, having got a new job as a live-in nurse at a maternity hospital in St Leonards-on-Sea in Sussex.
Cynthia showed an exceptional talent for music and won a scholarship to the Brighton School of Music when she was thirteen.
Her violin teacher, Isolde Menges, recognised Cynthia’s exceptional ability and got her a subsidised residential place at a violin school in Barnes, London.
From there, Cynthia won a scholarship to the Royal College of Music.
Having gained her degree, Cynthia joined the Boyd Neel Orchestra, becoming a professional viola player.
Cynthia went on to become part of the Vivien Hind Quartet (alongside her friend, the later-to-be-famous cello player, Anna Shuttleworth), as well as joining the St George Quartet and the Kalmar Orchestra.
The Vivien Hind Quartet had a residency at The Old Vic theatre in London, where Cynthia was the musical accompaniment to many plays starring, or directed by, Lawrence Olivier.
Cynthia was a striking looking woman who was over six feet tall, and had a penchant for wearing bright red dresses. She met many famous people and had a two-year relationship with the writer J.B.Priestley.
Cynthia broke off this when she met John Midgley, a PhD student in physics at Imperial College. They married in 1954 and went on to have three children; Clare, Nick and Tom.
The family moved to the Midlands when John got a research position with English Electric.
In 1968, John was appointed to a lecturing role at Edinburgh University, and the family moved to Scotland. There, Cynthia resumed her musical career, joining the Scottish Baroque Ensemble and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra. She was often away from home, touring overseas.
In the mid-1980s, Cynthia went part-time and took up violin teaching, before full retirement.
John died in 2002.
Anna Shuttleworth died just two weeks before Cynthia.
RIP – Red-dress Inspired Performances
