William Gray McNaught (30 March 1849 – 13 October 1918) was an English music teacher, journalist and editor who became an adjudicator and inspector of music for schools.''Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Music'', 7th. ed. (1984), p. 1,500 Born in

Mile End Mile End is a district of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in the East End of London, England, east-northeast of Charing Cross. Situated on the London-to-Colchester road, it was one of the earliest suburbs of London. It became part of the m ...

, London, McNaught learned tonic sol-fa in the school classroom and sang in concerts for the Tonic Sol-fa Association at

The Crystal Palace The Crystal Palace was a cast iron and plate glass structure, originally built in Hyde Park, London, Hyde Park, London, to house the Great Exhibition of 1851. The exhibition took place from 1 May to 15 October 1851, and more than 14,000 exhibit ...

.Borland, John. 'William Gray McNaught', in ''The Musical Times'', Vol. 59, No. 910 (December 1918), pp. 537-541
/ref> While working as a coffee importer, he taught himself violin and conducting, then began teaching music classes in his spare time. He studied 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 ...

from 1872-6 under George Macfarren. While there he became friendly with fellow student

Edward German Sir Edward German (17 February 1862 – 11 November 1936) was an English musician and composer of Welsh descent, best remembered for his extensive output of incidental music for the stage and as a successor to Arthur Sullivan in the field of En ...

. In 1883, he was appointed as an assistant inspector of music in training colleges by

John Stainer Sir John Stainer (6 June 1840 – 31 March 1901) was an English composer and organist whose music, though seldom performed today (with the exception of ''The Crucifixion'', still heard at Passiontide in some churches of the Anglican Communi ...

, and soon became an expert in the practical side of school music making. He also became editor of Novello's ''School Music Review'', founded in 1892. But on Stainer's death in 1901 he expected to succeed him as Inspector of Music. When Arthur Somervell was appointed instead, he resigned. From 1892 until his death, McNaught was an active choral conductor and remained an ardent supporter of tonic sol-fa. He was appointed as the editor of ''

The Musical Times ''The Musical Times'' is an academic journal of classical music edited and produced in the United Kingdom and currently the oldest such journal still being published in the country. It was originally created by Joseph Mainzer in 1842 as ''Mainzer ...

'' in 1909, where he wrote a series of articles on cathedrals and their musical associations.Hughes, Meirion. ''The English Musical Renaissance and the Press 1850-1914: Watchmen of Music'' His publications include the influential ''School Music Teacher'' (1889) and ''Hints on Choir Training for Competition'' (1896).C.E. McGuire and S.E. Plank. ''Historical Dictionary of English Music'', (2011) p. 200
/ref> His son William McNaught (1 September 1883 – 9 June 1953) was educated at

University College School ("Slowly but surely") , established = , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent day school , religion = , president = , head_label = Headmaster , head = Mark Beard , r_head_label = , r_he ...

, Hampstead, and

Worcester College, Oxford Worcester College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. The college was founded in 1714 by the benefaction of Sir Thomas Cookes, 2nd Baronet (1648–1701) of Norgrove, Worcestershire, whose coat of arms ...

, but never took a music degree. Like his father he also became editor of ''

'', succeeding

Harvey Grace Harvey Grace (1874–1944) was an English musician: composer, conductor, editor, teacher. In 1916 he married Dorothy Kirby, and together they had three children, Dorothy, Mary and Robert. Harvey Grace died in February 1944 in Bromley Hospital whil ...

, from March 1944 until his death in 1953, and acted as an adjudicator for music festivals. As a music critic he wrote for publications including ''

The Manchester Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the G ...

'', ''

The Morning Post ''The Morning Post'' was a conservative daily newspaper published in London from 1772 to 1937, when it was acquired by ''The Daily Telegraph''. History The paper was founded by John Bell. According to historian Robert Darnton, ''The Morning Po ...

'', ''

The Glasgow Herald ''The Herald'' is a Scottish broadsheet newspaper founded in 1783. ''The Herald'' is the longest running national newspaper in the world and is the eighth oldest daily paper in the world. The title was simplified from ''The Glasgow Herald'' in ...

'', the London '' The Evening News'' (1933-1939), '' The Listener'' and ''

The Radio Times ''Radio Times'' (currently styled as ''RadioTimes'') is a British weekly listings magazine devoted to television and radio programme schedules, with other features such as interviews, film reviews and lifestyle items. Founded in May 1923 by J ...

''. His books included ''A Short Account of Modern Music and Musicians'' (1937), ''Beethoven'' (1940) and ''Elgar'' (1947). From 1938 he edited the book series Novello's Biographies of Great Musicians ( Novello & Co.). He was also an amateur climber and a member of the Alpine Club from 1926.Poole, John. 'Memoir' in ''The Alpine Journal'' No 59 (1915), pp. 210-11
/ref>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McNaught, William Gray English music critics Classical music critics 1849 births 1918 deaths British music critics Alumni of Worcester College, Oxford