A Swedish musician, born in 1893, he began his musical studies at the Stockholm Conservatory. He reached the first major step of his career in 1911, as the concertmaster of the Royal Opera Orchestra, position he held until 1914. To reach his ultimate goal — a conductor, he furthered his music education in both England and Germany. By 1924, Grevillius was appointed conductor of the Royal Orchestra and remained there until 1953. Well known throughout Europe, Grevillius performed in many of the continent's capitals, including Paris. His musical career made him famous among people in the opera field until his death in 1970.
Born in Tennessee in 1929, John Watts took an interest in music during his teenage years, specifically the clarinet. In 1949, he earned a Bachelor of Arts in music composition and then continued to graduate school. During his graduate years, he studied under notable musicians David Van Vactor, John Kreuger and Alfred Shmeid. By 1950, he won the Thomas Berry Prize for Composition. Continuing to the University of Colorado, he earned a Masters degree in music. A composer during the 1970s, Watts involved himself in a variety of performances. Unfortunately, the stress of his career ultimately caused his early demise in 1982.
The most glaring similarity between Watts and Grevillius is that they were both composers. They also spent a great deal of time and energy building and working in their craft. Both also studied and worked with notable professionals, with Watts making considerable contacts in his industry and Grevillius being involved with many European performances and musical talent. Ironically enough, both composers lived until roughly the same time period, despite Grevillius being born 36 years earlier.
The differences between Watts and Grevillius far outweigh their similarities. Aside from being from different places, perhaps the most conspicuous — and unfortunate — difference was in their careers. While Gervillius was extremely successful in his work, Watts's participation as a composer was turbulent and stressful, despite having received private instruction from respected musicians, such as Roy Harris. However, Watts did have one resource that Grevillius did not seem to exploit: technology. Watts took full advantage of electronic music, which allowed him to combine and synthesize a variety of musical genres. Gervillius, on the other hand, did not embrace this and remained true to opera.