Mary Lucas
Mary Lucas née Juler (24 May 1882–14 January 1952) sometimes referred to as Mary Anderson-Lucas, was an English composer and pianist. She studied at the Dresden Conservatory with Carlo Albanesi and at the Royal College of Music with Herbert Howells, R.O. Morris and Maurice Jacobson.[1] She married entrepreneur and inventor Ralph Lucas in 1903,[2] and their son Colin became a noted architect.[3][4] She gave up composition for a few years after she married, but returned to produce a number of successful compositions, including six string quartets.[5] In 1934 and 1935 the Stratton String Quartet championed her music, performing her string quartets at the London Music Club's First Performance Society on 29 November 1934 at 22 Holland Park,[6] and in January 1935 at the Blackheath Concert Halls.[7] Lucas had a special affinity with the clarinet: her Clarinet Sonata was written for Pauline Juler in 1938[8][9] and a recording of her Lament for clarinet played by Rudolph Dunbar, with the composer probably playing the piano, was issued by Octacros Records in the mid-1930s.[10] The Circus Suite was performed at the Proms in the Royal Albert Hall on 4 July 1942.[11] Lucas' papers are partially housed at the British Library,[12] while some manuscripts and other papers are held at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.
In 1930, Colin Lucas, a pioneer of reinforced concrete construction, built Noah's Boathouse in Cookham for his parents. Mary Lucas established a music room there.[13][14]
Works
Selected works include:
Orchestral
- The Circus, suite for orchestra (1939)[15][11]
- Concertino for flute and orchestra (1940) [16]
- Five Tunes for Small Orchestra [17]
- Fugue for strings (1939) [16]
- Occasional Overture (fp 22 November 1940, Arts Theatre Club) [17]
- Rhapsody for orchestra (performed in Bournemouth, April 1928)[18]
- Variations on a Theme by Purcell for string orchestra (1938)[15]
Chamber Music
- Clarinet Sonata (1938) [17]
- Complainte et Rapsodie for clarinet and piano [16]
- Duo for clarinet and viola [16]
- Fugue for flute, oboe and viola [16]
- Lament for clarinet and piano [17]
- Rhapsody for flute, cello and piano (1946) [16]
- String Quartet No 1 [16]
- String Quartet No 2 (1933) [16]
- String Quartet No 3 (1935) [16]
- Trio for clarinet, viola and piano [16]
- Violin Sonata (performance 4 November 1930, Blackheath) [17]
Vocal
- Choeurs isolés, choral [16]
- The Hour of Magic (text: W H Davies) [17]
- Sleeping Sea and Lullaby, two choral part songs published by Chester, 1939[19]
- Songs for two part choir (OUP): Dandelion Down, Duck's Ditty, Evening Song, Thunder at Night, The Wind [20]
Ballet and Dramatic [16]
- Amour et mort, ballet (1936)
- Preludes de Ballet (1945)
- Sciure (piano-flute-string quintet), ballet (1941)
- The Book of Thel, masque for solo voices, chorus, chamber orchestra, and male and female narrators (1935)
- Musiques de scène, masque
- Sawdust, ballet (fp 21 May 1941, Wulfrun Hall Wolverhampton) [17]
References
- ^ British Music Society. British Composer Profiles, 3rd Edition, 2012
- ^ Greenwich Industrial History: Ralph Lucas (1876-1955)
- ^ Sharp, Dennis; Rendel, Sally (2008). Connell, Ward and Lucas: Modern movement architects in England (Digitized online by GoogleBooks). Retrieved 5 January 2011.
- ^ Paul Mellon Centre Archive
- ^ "THE DISTAFF SIDE: SOME BRITISH WOMEN COMPOSERS". Retrieved 5 January 2011.
- ^ The Times, 26 November 1934, p 10
- ^ See The British Library, Music Collections, Programmes and handbills relating to Mary Anderson Lucas, [1].
- ^ The Clarinet: Volume 11. International Clarinet Society, Idaho State University. Dept. of Music. 1983.
- ^ The Clarinet Sonata was revived by Peter Cigleris and Martin Cousin in Weymouth on 10 February 2019.
- ^ Michael Thomas: Octaras
- ^ a b BBC Proms Archive
- ^ The British Library, Music Collections, Programmes and handbills relating to Mary Anderson Lucas
- ^ BBC Berkshire: Noah's Boathouse Hits Troubled Waters
- ^ BBC Radio 3: Essential Classics, 21 January 2019
- ^ a b British Music Collection
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Musicalics Catalogue
- ^ a b c d e f g Lucas Collection: Concert Programmes
- ^ Musical Times, 1 June 1928, p 549
- ^ Musical Times, May 1939, p 359
- ^ Presto Music
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