Vera Winifred Buck (15 February 1903 – 2 January 1986) was an Australian composer and pianist.

History

The daughter of William Buck, an accountant, and Tessa Quinn Herberte, she was born in

Kew, Victoria Kew (;) is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, 5 km east from Melbourne's Melbourne central business district, Central Business District, located within the City of Boroondara Local government areas of Victor ...

and was educated at private schools in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

. She began playing the piano at a young age. At the age of 15, she wrote her first song ''Love of You''. During the late 1920s, Buck was accompanist for radio station 3AR. In 1930, she received a scholarship to study composition with

Fritz Hart Fritz Bennicke Hart (11 February 1874 – 9 July 1949) was an English composer, conductor, teacher and unpublished novelist, who spent considerable periods in Australia and Hawaii. Early life Hart was born at Brockley, Greenwich, England, eldest ...

. Later that same year, she arranged for her children to be looked after by relatives and moved to Britain. There, she composed songs and performed on stage and on

radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmit ...

. She also coached singers such as

Jessie Matthews Jessie Margaret Matthews (11 March 1907 – 19 August 1981) was an English actress, dancer and singer of the 1920s and 1930s, whose career continued into the post-war period. After a string of hit stage musicals and films in the mid-1930s, Ma ...

Florence Desmond Florence Dawson (31 May 1905 – 16 January 1993), better known by her stage name Florence Desmond, was an English actress, comedian and impersonator. Biography Early life and career Born in London in 1905, Desmond was educated at the Dame A ...

and Robert Naylor. Her 1932 song ''The Birds'' with lyrics by

Hilaire Belloc Joseph Hilaire Pierre René Belloc (, ; 27 July 187016 July 1953) was a Franco-English writer and historian of the early twentieth century. Belloc was also an orator, poet, sailor, satirist, writer of letters, soldier, and political activist. H ...

was performed by

Florence Austral Florence Austral (26 April 1892 – 15 May 1968) was an Australian operatic soprano renowned for her interpretation of the most demanding Wagnerian female roles, although she never gained the opportunity to appear at the Bayreuth Festival or New ...

. She also composed ''Serenity'', published in 1937, with lyrics by her sister Lilian, a poet. Songs published in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

included:''The Donkey'' (1935), lyrics by

G. K. Chesterton Gilbert Keith Chesterton (29 May 1874 – 14 June 1936) was an English writer, philosopher, Christian apologist, and literary and art critic. He has been referred to as the "prince of paradox". Of his writing style, ''Time'' observed: "Wh ...

,''Blue Bows'' (1937), lyrics by Helen Taylor, and ''This Is My Prayer'' (1938), lyrics by Kenneth Ellis. Under the pseudonym Pat Francis, she wrote light songs including ''Across the Sands of Time'' (1936) and ''How Wonderful'' (1937). Her songs ''Reminiscence'' (1936), with lyrics by Noel Cripps, and ''Full Sail'' (1937), with lyrics by

Alfred Perceval Graves Alfred Perceval Graves (22 July 184627 December 1931), was an Anglo-Irish poet, songwriter and folklorist. He was the father of British poet and critic Robert Graves. Early life Graves was born in Dublin and was the son of The Rt Rev. Cha ...

, were performed at events associated with the coronation of King

George VI George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until Death and state funeral of George VI, his death in 1952. ...

. Buck returned to Melbourne in 1938, continuing to perform. She was resident pianist for radio station

3AW 3AW is a talkback radio station based in Melbourne. It broadcasts on 693 kHz AM. It began transmission on 22 February 1932 as Melbourne's fifth commercial radio station. The station is owned and operated by Nine Entertainment Co. Hist ...

. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, she performed to raise funds and to entertain the troops. Buck served as vice-president of the Guild of Australian Composers. Songs from this period include: ''A Hymn for Country'' (1943), lyrics by

Toyohiko Kagawa was a Japanese Protestant Christian pacifist, Christian reformer, and labour activist. Kagawa wrote, spoke, and worked at length on ways to employ Christian principles in the ordering of society and in cooperatives. His vocation to help the ...

, ''Take Thou the Burden, Lord'' (1943), lyrics by Toyohiko Kagawa, and ''Until the Day I Die'' (1945), lyrics by A. D. Jones

Personal

In 1922, she married Edgar Charles Wilson Burridge; the couple had two daughters and divorced in 1937. In 1940, she married Bramwell John Gilchrist in the chapel of Wesley Church, Lonsdale Street, Melbourne. His wedding gift to his bride was a grand piano. She died in Kew at the age of 82.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Buck, Vera 1903 births 1986 deaths Australian women composers Australian women pianists 20th-century Australian pianists 20th-century women pianists People from Kew, Victoria Musicians from Melbourne Australian expatriates in the United Kingdom