Mary Lucas facts for kids

Mary Lucas (born Mary Anderson Juler, 24 May 1882 – 14 January 1952) was an English composer and pianist. She was also known as Mary Anderson Lucas.

About Mary Lucas

Mary grew up in London and later in Chipstead, Surrey. Her father was a doctor, and she was one of five children. She loved music from a young age.

Mary studied piano at the Dresden Conservatory with a teacher named Carlo Albanesi. Later, in the 1920s, she studied how to compose music at the Royal College of Music. Her teachers there included Herbert Howells, R.O. Morris, and Maurice Jacobson.

In 1903, Mary married Ralph Lucas, who was an inventor and businessman. Their son, Colin, later became a famous architect.

Her Music Journey

After she got married, Mary stopped composing music for more than 25 years. But in the 1930s, she started again and created many successful pieces. These included six string quartets, which are pieces written for four string instruments like violins and cellos.

The Stratton Quartet was a group that really liked her music. They performed her quartets in London in 1934 and 1935. Another all-female group, the Macnaghten Quartet, even played her third quartet on BBC radio in 1936.

Mary Lucas especially loved the clarinet. She might have even encouraged her niece, Pauline Juler, to become a professional clarinet player. Mary wrote her Clarinet Sonata for Pauline in 1938. Mary also performed duets with a clarinet player named Rudolph Dunbar. They even recorded her piece Lament for clarinet and piano.

In 1942, when Mary was sixty years old, her orchestral piece called Circus Suite was performed at the Royal Albert Hall. This was part of the famous BBC Proms concert series, which was a big moment for her!

Some of Mary's original papers and recordings are kept at the British Library. Other important papers are at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Her family's old documents are also stored at Yale University.

Family and Friends

Mary's husband, Ralph Lucas, was involved in designing and making early motor cars. He created the Ralph Lucas Car around 1901. Ralph passed away in 1955.

Their son, Colin Lucas (1906-1984), was an architect. He was known for using reinforced concrete in his buildings. Colin married the chef Dione Lucas in 1945. Colin also built a special house called Noah's Boathouse in Cookham for his parents.

Mary set up a music room in Noah's Boathouse. Here, she held gatherings where people discussed music and ideas. Mary and Colin were interested in the teachings of a Russian thinker named P. D. Ouspensky. Friends like the artist Paul Nash, Alain Daniélou, and the composer Edmund Rubbra might have attended these gatherings.

Selected Works

Here are some of the musical pieces Mary Lucas composed:

Orchestral Music

• Capriccio for saxophone and string orchestra
• The Circus, a suite for orchestra (1939)
• Concertino for flute and orchestra (1940)
• Five Tunes for Small Orchestra
• Fugue for strings (1939)
• Occasional Overture (first played in 1940)
• Rhapsody for orchestra (performed in 1928)
• Variations on a Theme by Henry Purcell for string orchestra (1938)

Chamber Music

• Clarinet Sonata (1938)
• Complainte et Rapsodie for clarinet and piano
• Duo for clarinet and viola (1941)
• Fugue for flute, oboe, and viola (1938)
• Lament for clarinet and piano (1938)
• Rhapsody for flute, cello, and piano (1946)
• String Quartet No 1
• String Quartet No 2 (1933)
• String Quartet No 3 (1935)
• Trio for clarinet, viola, and piano (1939)
• Violin Sonata (performed in 1930)
• Woodwind Quintet for clarinet, flute, oboe, bassoon, horn (early 1930s?)

Vocal Music

• Choeurs isolés, a choral piece
• The Hour of Magic (with words by W H Davies)
• Sleeping Sea and Lullaby, two choral songs (1939)
• Songs for two-part choir: Dandelion Down, Duck's Ditty, Evening Song, Thunder at Night, The Wind

Ballet and Dramatic Music

• Amour et mort, a ballet (1936)
• Preludes de Ballet (1945)
• Sciure (for piano, flute, and string quintet), a ballet (1941)
• The Book of Thel, a masque for singers, chorus, orchestra, and narrators (1935)
• Musiques de scène, a masque
• Sawdust, a ballet (first performed in 1941 at Wulfrun Hall in Wolverhampton)