{{Short description|Australian pianist and composer (1892–1967)}} thumb|upright=1.5|Monk in 1933 {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2016}} {{Use Australian English|date=October 2016}} '''Varney Monk''' (born '''Isabel Varney Desmond Peterson'''; 18 January 1892 – 7 February 1967) was an Australian pianist and composer, best known for writing the musicals ''Collits' Inn'' (1932) and ''The Cedar Tree'' (1934). ''Collits' Inn'' was described by the ''Sydney Morning Herald'' as "an Australian opera".<ref>''The Sydney Morning Herald'', 6 December 1932. p. 15.</ref>
From families of Scottish heritage and musical ability, her father was a solicitor. Soon after her birth in Bacchus Marsh, the family moved to Tasmania.<ref name=ME1934>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article254736980 |title=Bacchus Marsh her birthplace. |newspaper=Melton Express |location=Victoria, Australia |date=10 March 1934 |access-date=9 February 2020 |page=3 |via=Trove }}</ref> Monk's mother died when Monk was aged 11, and her father died in 1929.
During her career, she wrote more than 150 songs.<ref>[http://www.nla.gov.au/ms/findaids/2294.html Papers of Varney Monk] at National Library of Australia</ref> Her first song was published when she was 13 years old,<ref name=Smith1945>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article234639812 |title=True Australian Song-Writer |newspaper=Smith's Weekly |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=22 September 1945 |access-date=9 February 2020 |page=13 |via=Trove }}</ref> and by 1934, Monk had won the best song in an Australian Radio Competition with "Some distant day", and the 1933 Broken Hill Jubilee Song Competition.<ref name=ME1934 /> Using Australian poems as inspiration, she set to music three pieces of verse by Adam Lindsay Gordon (1833–1870), eight by Henry Kendall (1839–1882), two by Will H. Ogilvie (1869–1963), and others by Miles Franklin (1879–1954) and Henry Lawson (1867–1922).<ref name=Smith1945 />
She was the wife of Australian violinist Cyril Monk, whom she married in 1913.<ref> {{cite AuDB |first=Helen|last=Bainton|title=Monk, Cyril Farnsworth (1882–1970) |volume=10 |edition= |year=1986 |id2=monk-cyril-farnsworth-7625 |access-date=22 January 2019}}</ref> She had one son and one daughter, and lived in Mosman, Sydney, in later life.<ref name=ME1934 />
== References ==
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== External links ==
*[http://www.nla.gov.au/ms/findaids/2294.html Papers of Varney Monk] at National Library of Australia *[http://www.australianmusicals.com/article_itsaustralian.htm Article on the making of ''Collits' Inn''] *[http://trove.nla.gov.au/people/560242?q=creator%3A%22Monk%2C+Varney%2C+1892-1967%22&c=people Varney Monk] at Trove *[http://www.ausstage.edu.au/indexdrilldown.jsp?xcid=59&f_contrib_id=235475 Varney Monk] at Ausstage
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Monk, Varney}} Category:1892 births Category:1967 deaths Category:20th-century Australian musicians Category:20th-century Australian composers Category:20th-century Australian women composers Category:Australian composers Category:Australian musical theatre composers Category:Australian musical theatre lyricists Category:Australian women composers Category:Australian women songwriters