William Neil McKie

Sir William Neil McKie (22 May 1901, Melbourne, Australia – 1 December 1984, Ottawa, Canada) was an Australian organist, conductor, and composer. He was Organist and Master of the Choristers at Westminster Abbey 1941-1963 and noted for his direction of the music for the marriage of Princess Elizabeth in 1947, and later her coronation in 1953.

Birth and Studies

William McKie was born in the inner-city suburb of Collingwood, Melbourne, the son of The Reverend William McKie, who was vicar of Collingwood at the time. He studied the organ at Melbourne Grammar School under Dr Arthur Nickson (1876-1964), and in 1919 won the prestigious Clarke Scholarship from the University of Melbourne which enabled him to study at the Royal College of Music, London, England. Following this he became Organ Scholar of Worcester College, Oxford, where he gained his MA and BMus degrees. [http://www.concertorgan.com/OCA32001Feature15.html]

Early career

In 1926 McKie took up his first professional appointment as Director of Music of Clifton College, Bristol, England, now perhaps the most famous of all Cliftonian organists. [http://www.cliftoncollegeuk.com/NetCommunity/Page.aspx?pid=688] In 1930 Melbourne City Council invited McKie back in order to become the Melbourne City Organist and Musical Advisor to the City Council. He gave regular and popular lunch-time recitals at the town hall for seven years in this capacity, commencing Wednesday 8 April 1931. As city organist he proved an effective administrator in organising festivals including Melbourne's enormous Bach festival of 1932, the first such festival in Australia, and the Bach-Elgar festival of 1934. In 1934 whilst continuing as Melbourne City Organist he was appointed Director of Music at Geelong Grammar School by the then headmaster, James Ralph Darling. [http://www.humancondition.info/Articles/SirJamesDarlingObituary.html]

England and The Coronation of Elizabeth II

In 1938 McKie resigned the post of Melbourne City Organist and moved to England to take up the position of Organist of Magdalen College, Oxford, a move which would see him become one of the most prominent church musicians of his day: in September 1941 he was appointed Organist and Master of the Choristers at Westminster Abbey when Paul de Labilliere was Dean; a position that he held until his retirement in 1963. Owing to war service McKie was unable to take up his post until 1946, so the Sub-Organist Dr Osborne Peasgood (1902-1962) acted in his stead. [http://www.ofchoristers.net/Chapters/WestminsterAbbey.htm] McKie was responsible for reforming the Abbey Choir after the war, and in 1947 directed the music for the marriage of Princess Elizabeth and The Duke of Edinburgh, for which he composed his most famous work, We wait for thy loving kindness, O God. The highlight of William McKie's career came on June 2 1953 - the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom. In Westminster Abbey there were 8000 guests, a choir of nearly 400, an orchestra of 60, and military trumpeters. The Musical Times reported that the musical arrangements, under the ultimate direction of McKie, went "without a hitch. They might, like the choice of music, be different; they could hardly have been bettered." [http://books.google.com/books?id=zSJ7zXkBc3MC&pg=PA120&lpg=PA120&dq=william+mckie+coronation&source=web&ots=4KDUDTGh6z&sig=4hndTrvIOCEWPrYvKUXk16WnaOg] McKie chose music which was eclectic; both new and old, and using music from previous coronations. McKie received his knighthood in the same year. Later, McKie was to direct the music for the marriage of Princess Margaret in 1960.

Family and Retirement

McKie married Phyllis Ross in Westminster Abbey on 5 April 1956. McKie was Ross's second husband, and they had no children. In 1963, after 22 years at Westminster Abbey, McKie retired to Ottawa, Canada, where he lived until his death in December, 1984. Phyllis McKie died 12 January 1983. [http://www.archivescanada.ca/english/search/ItemDisplay.asp?sessionKey=1126738539034_206_191_57_196&l=0&lvl=1&v=0&coll=1&itm=206402&rt=1&bill=1] McKie is buried in the West Cloister of Westminster Abbey.

Works

We wait for thy loving kindness, O God, for choir and organ, 1947

Romance in G, for organ

Anecdotes

On the occasion of their Diamond Wedding, Buckingham Palace revealed 60 facts about the Queen and Prince Philip's marriage. "23. William McKie, the Abbey organist, had been summoned to the Palace four days before the wedding so that Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret could sing the descant to Crimond to him so that he could note it down as no other copy was available." [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7100546.stm]

"One day, William McKie published a scathing article in the daily papers, condemning what he called those monstrosities of things known as the Mighty Wurlitzer or Cinema Organ... Horace was so infuriated by William McKie's remarks that he challenged him to come across to the Capitol any time he liked, and he would prove that the Wurlitzer was capable of playing any kind of music at all and had more range and versatility than any Town Hall organ ever built. The City Organist accepted Horace's invitation and one morning went over to the theatre. The amazing ability of Horace Weber had McKie paralysed. His eyes nearly jumped put of their sockets when he saw Weber's fantastic pedal technique. He really put the Wurlitzer through its paces, bringing the console up and spotlight on him. For good measure, he played Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, Widor's Toccata from the 5th Symphony and Wagner's Ride of the Walkyries; and, brother, could he play them! He was a genius in the extreme. One must admit that those three major works one after the other, was a pretty tall order, but Horace with no effort performed them to perfection. After that, he turned round to William McKie and said, 'Now, my dear friend, I will do something you can't do', and he proceeded to play in every tempo possible the latest current popular hit, which at that time was a number called 'I'll String Along With You'. To say that the puritan City Organist was impressed would be the understatement of the age. One could safely say he was speechless and completely demoralised. McKie offered to publicly apologise in the papers, and ever after that humiliating organ lesson he and Horace Weber became the best and closest of friends, so much so that Horace would go over to the Town Hall and play McKie's lunch hour programme for him while he sat at the back of the hall to get an idea of how he would sound to the regular audiences." Davies, Ian, "Points of Interest from the Past", TOSA News, TOSA (NSW), Sydney, April, 1984, p. 15

"When Sir William McKie was organist of Westminster Abbey, he was invited to play a recital at St.John-the-Divine, New York. Thus, he travelled across the pond and found his way to the cathedral, to be greeted by one of the cathedral organists.There followed a guided tour of the vast interior space, and the organist proudly stated that the cathedral was the largest gothic cathedral in the world, with the biggest enclosed space. Furthermore, the great east-window was the size of a whole tennis-court, the reredos was gold-plated and the pulpit one of the grandest anywhere in the world.By the time they caught the lift up to the organ-console, Sir William was growing tired of his host.Seating himself at the rather lagre (but not enormous) Aeolian-Skinner organ, Sir William tried this sound and that sound, various solo registers and found himself impressed by the quality of the instrument. Eventually, his eye caught a stop named "State Trumpet," and he asked what it was.The young organist at his side told Sir William that it was, naturally (!), the loudest organ-stop in the whole wide world on 50" of wind, and situated at the west-end of the cathedral about a quarter-of-a-mile away. The young organist switched on the distant blower-motor, and Sir William drew the stop and played a few chords. Several fractions of a secon later, and the fanfare came down the cathedral like an express-train, as Sir William McKie exclaimed, "Good heavens!"The young organist, obviously immensely proud of this state-of-the-art American party-horn, made the fatal mistake of saying, "Yep Sir Bill, I bet you aint got anything like that at Westminster Abbey."Sir William got off the console, fixed his glower upon the young organist and replied, "Young man, we do indeed NOT have a State Trumpet as you call it, and for one very simple reason. In the event that one is required, I pick up the telephone at the side of the console, ring her majesty, and bloody-well ask to have one sent around!"" [http://web16713.vs.netbenefit.co.uk/discussion/index.php?showtopic=1138&pid=23758&mode=threaded&start=]

"Dr William McKie was the new organist who had been appointed in 1941 but owing to his war service had been unable to take up his appointment until 1946. At this time Field Marshall Montgomery who lived nearby and was a fairly frequent visitor to the abbey, attended a service and afterwards asked Dr McKie if there was anything he could do for the choir. The answer came back promptly "give us back our choir school" (the War Office had continued to occupy the building after the armistice). In less than a fortnight they had reluctantly left the premises in Dean’s Yard and the school moved back in.The choristers took part in many important services including the marriage of the then Princess Elizabeth to Prince Philip in 1947, her coronation in 1953, the marriage of Princess Margaret in May 1960, that of Princess Anne in November 1973, and finally the Duke of York in 1986.The Music Fund which had been founded some years previously was doing very well, and in 1978 to 79 raised over £2,000 by means of the Summer Fete, a contribution from The Purcell Club, The Balloon Race, and a stall at the Barnes Community Fair and a concert in the abbey. The Fund’s assets stood at just under £7,000. Some of the money was spent on instruments.Meanwhile Dr McKie was working up a fine and enthusiastic choir, training his newly selected team of boys to a very high standard. He was knighted in 1953. He was a man of occasional temperamental outbursts when things went wrong having been known to throw books at the culprits. However he was greatly loved by all who knew him and did not retire until 1963." [http://www.ofchoristers.net/Chapters/WestminsterAbbey.htm]

External links

* [http://www.myfuture.edu.au/services/default.asp?FunctionID=6003&ScholarshipID=6061 Sir William McKie Traveling Scholarship]
* [http://www.concertorgan.com/OCA32001Feature15.html History of Melbourne Town Hall organ]
* [http://www.westminster-abbey.org Details of Coronation]
* [http://www.archivescanada.ca/english/search/ItemDisplay.asp?sessionKey=1126738539034_206_191_57_196&l=0&lvl=1&v=0&coll=1&itm=188706&rt=1&bill=1 Lady McKie]

s-ttl|title=Organist and Master of the Choristers of Westminster Abbey
years=1941–1963