Margaret Moncrieff (6 February 1921 – 12 November 2008) was a Scottish

cellist The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a bowed (sometimes plucked and occasionally hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually tuned in perfect fifths: from low to high, C2, G2, D3 ...

and

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

writing under the

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...

Helen McClelland and writing novels in the

Chalet School The Chalet School is a series of 64 school story novels by Elinor M. Brent-Dyer, initially published between 1925 and 1970. The fictional school was initially located in the Austrian Tyrol, before it was moved to Guernsey in 1939 following the ...

series.

Early life

In 1921, Moncrieff was born as Helen Margaret Moncrieff in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

, Scotland. Moncrieff's father was

Alexander Moncrieff, Lord Moncrieff Alexander Moncrieff, Lord Moncrieff FRSE (14 August 1870 – 5 August 1949), was a Scottish lawyer and judge, who was created a Senator of the College of Justice. Life Alexander Moncrieff was the third son of Hope Margaret Pattison and her hus ...

, and her mother was Helen Moncrieff (née McClelland Adams, formerly Spens).(subscription required for full article) In London, Moncrieff studied the cello at the

Royal College of Music The Royal College of Music is a music school, conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the Undergraduate education, undergraduate to the Doctorate, doctoral level in a ...

with

Ivor James Ivor James CBE (1882–1963) Percy A. Scholes. "James, Ivor". ''Concise Oxford Dictionary of Music''. Oxford University Press, 1964. was a British cellist. He taught for many years at the Royal College of Music; among his pupils were those who beca ...

, and then in Paris, with

Pierre Fournier Pierre Léon Marie Fournier (24 June 19068 January 1986) was a French cellist who was called the "aristocrat of cellists" on account of his elegant musicianship and majestic sound. Biography He was born in Paris, the son of a French Army gen ...

. She went on to a distinguished career as a soloist,

chamber musician Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of Musical instrument, instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a Great chamber, palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music ...

, and teacher.

Career

Moncrieff was a

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...

of cello at the

. When Moncrieff was in her 60s, she became a writer. In 2003, Moncrieff wrote her

memoir A memoir (; , ) is any nonfiction narrative writing based in the author's personal memories. The assertions made in the work are thus understood to be factual. While memoir has historically been defined as a subcategory of biography or autobi ...

Personal life

In 1957, Moncrieff married Alexander Kelly (1929–1996) a pianist, composer, and later head of keyboard studies at the

Royal Academy of Music The Royal Academy of Music (RAM) in London, England, is the oldest conservatoire in the UK, founded in 1822 by John Fane and Nicolas-Charles Bochsa. It received its royal charter in 1830 from King George IV with the support of the first Duke of ...

. They had two children: cellist Alison Moncrieff Kelly, and Catriona Kelly, Professor of Russian at

New College, Oxford New College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as its feeder school, New College is one of the oldest colleges at th ...

Works

* 2001: ''Time and Again'' * 2003: ''Worlds Apart: Memoir of Margaret Moncrieff Kelly''

Chalet School

Montcrieff's entries in the series include:Carina.org, "The Chalet School books"
/ref> *''Joey and Patricia: A Reunion in Guernsey'' (2000) *''Visitors to the Chalet School'' (2004)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Moncrieff, Margaret 1921 births 2008 deaths Scottish classical cellists Scottish women novelists Academics of the Royal College of Music 20th-century Scottish novelists 21st-century Scottish novelists 21st-century Scottish writers 20th-century Scottish women writers 21st-century Scottish women writers 20th-century classical musicians 20th-century Scottish musicians Women classical cellists 20th-century women musicians Scottish women music educators Scottish music educators Alumni of the Royal College of Music 21st-century British memoirists Scottish memoirists British women memoirists 20th-century cellists