William Beatton Moonie (1883–1961) was a British composer. He gives his name to the Moonie Collection, a collection of music held by Glasgow University.

Life

He was born somewhat prematurely at the station master's house at

Stobo railway station Stobo railway station was a railway station in the Borders east of Biggar, serving the hamlet of Stobo; a rural community within the Parish of Stobo. History The Symington, Biggar and Broughton Railway (S,B&BR) opened part of the line, how ...

on 29 May 1883 while his parents were taking a brief holiday from their usual home 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 ...

. His father James Anderson Moonie (d.1923) was a music teacher living at 33 Oxford Street, a flat in the Newington district of Edinburgh. His mother, Clementina Greenaway, had been a secretary. James was a member of the Hope Park United Presbyterian Church and founded the Hope Park Musical Association in 1886. He also ran several choirs, most famously "Mr Moonie's Choir" founded in 1896. William was educated at

Daniel Stewart's College Stewart's Melville College (SMC) is an independent day and boarding school in Edinburgh, Scotland. Classes are all boys in the 1st to 5th years and co-educational in Sixth (final) year. It has a roll of about 750 pupils. The school is twinned w ...

(where his father became Music Master in 1887) then studied History of Music at Edinburgh University. There he studied under

Frederick Niecks Frederick Niecks (3 February 184524 June 1924) was a German musical scholar and author who resided in Scotland for most of his life. He is best remembered for his biographies of Frédéric Chopin and Robert Schumann. Biography Friedrich Mat ...

and graduated BMus in 1902 also winning the Bucher Scholarship, which enabled him to do postgraduate studies at the University of

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

under

Iwan Knorr Iwan Otto Armand Knorr (3 January 1853 – 22 January 1916) was a German composer and music teacher. Life A native of Gniew, he attended the Leipzig Conservatory where he studied with Ignaz Moscheles, Ernst Friedrich Richter and Carl Reinecke. I ...

Lazzaro Uzielli Lazzaro Uzielli (4 February 1861 − 8 October 1943) was an Italian pianist and music educator. Life Born in Florence, Uzielli studied in his home town with Luigi Vannuccini und Giuseppe Buonamici, then with Ernst Rudorff in Berlin, and with ...

and

Willi Rehberg Willi is a given name, nickname (often a short form or hypocorism of Wilhelm) and surname. Notable people with the name include: Given name * Willi Apel (1893–1988), German-American musicologist * Willi Boskovsky (1909–1991), Austrian violinis ...

(father of

Walter Rehberg Walter Rehberg (14 May 1900 in Geneva – 24 October 1957) was a Swiss concert pianist, composer and writer on musical subjects who was particularly active from the 1920s to 1950s. Walter Rehberg came from a line of notable pianists. His grandf ...

). On his return to Britain in 1908 he had further tuition from

Donald Tovey Sir Donald Francis Tovey (17 July 187510 July 1940) was a British musical analyst, musicologist, writer on music, composer, conductor and pianist. He had been best known for his '' Essays in Musical Analysis'' and his editions of works by Bach ...

and through him befriended

Erik Chisholm Erik William Chisholm (4 January 1904 – 8 June 1965) was a Scottish composer, pianist, organist and conductor sometimes known as "Scotland's forgotten composer". According to his biographer, Chisholm "was the first composer to absorb Celtic i ...

. He went back to living with his family in Edinburgh, who at this point had moved to a much larger property at 44 Morningside Park. In 1910 he took a post teaching at Moray House in Edinburgh and in 1915 became music teacher at Daniel Stewart's College, moving to George Heriot's School in 1919. He then moved to Watson's Ladies College on

Queen Street, Edinburgh Queen Street is the northernmost east-west street in Edinburgh's First New Town. It begins in the east, at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery. It links York Place with the Moray Estate. It was named "Queen Street" after Queen Charlotte of ...

. In 1912 he is noted in arranging an evening of traditional music, aided by John Bartholomew, advocate, of the "Misses Tolmie" including "Miss Tolmie's Waulking Song". His most famous work, the opera "The Weird of Colbar", premiered at the Theatre Royal in Glasgow in March 1937, a romantic story concerning the Jacobite Alan Colbar. The title appears an allusion to Scott's "Weir of Hermiston" and the lyrics are in large part derived from Scott. In 1945 he was awarded an honorary doctorate by Edinburgh University. He died in Edinburgh on 8 December 1961 and is buried with his father in the Grange Cemetery. The grave lies not far from the main entrance on the right hand side of the first north-south path.

Known compositions

*Springtime on Tweed *''The Weird of Colbar'' (opera) *First Piano Quintet (1919) *Symphony in A major *Reverie (1922) *Perthshire Echoes (1924), anthology *A Scottish Chapbook, anthology *Five Pieces for Piano *Arabesque (1923) *Five Romantic Pieces (1955) *Lord of the Isles *Campbell of Kilmohr *Proud Maisie *Jock O'Hazeldean

Family

In 1924 he married Janet Glegg (b.1896). They had two children: Alan Graham Moonie (1925-2008) and Annot Lyle Moonie, who married William Lightheart, also a music teacher.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Moonie, William Beaton 1883 births 1961 deaths Musicians from Edinburgh Alumni of the University of Edinburgh British composers Burials at the Grange Cemetery