Mary Hannah (May) Brahe (née Dickson) (6 November 188414 August 1956) was an Australian composer, best known for her songs and ballads. Her most famous song by far is " Bless This House", recorded by John McCormack, Beniamino Gigli,Naxos
/ref>

Lesley Garrett Lesley Garrett, CBE (born 10 April 1955) is an English soprano singer, musician, broadcaster and media personality. She is noted for being at home in opera and "crossover music". Early life Garrett was born in the town of Thorne, near Donc ...

and

Bryn Terfel Sir Bryn Terfel Jones, (; born 9 November 1965) (known professionally as Bryn Terfel) is a Welsh bass-baritone opera and concert singer. Terfel was initially associated with the roles of Mozart, particularly '' Figaro'', '' Leporello'' and '' ...

.ArkivMusik
/ref> According to Move.com.au: "She was the only

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal A ...

woman composer to win local an international recognition before

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 opposing ...

," having "290 of her 500 songs published. Of these, 248 were written under her own name,Music Australia
/ref> the remainder under aliases.

Biography

Mary Hannah Dickson was born in

East Melbourne East Melbourne is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, east of Melbourne's Melbourne central business district, Central Business District, located within the City of Melbourne Local government areas of ...

in 1884. She was known as May from an early age. Her father was native born and her mother Scottish. She studied piano with her mother, then at Stratherne Girls' School,

Hawthorn Hawthorn or Hawthorns may refer to: Plants * '' Crataegus'' (hawthorn), a large genus of shrubs and trees in the family Rosaceae * ''Rhaphiolepis'' (hawthorn), a genus of about 15 species of evergreen shrubs and small trees in the family Rosace ...

, and later with Mona McBurney and the singer Alice Rebotarro. In 1903 she married Frederick Brahe, the couple had two sons and a daughter. By 1910 she was playing in a trio with George W. L. Marshall-Hall, and accompanying singers. In 1912 she left for

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, 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 dow ...

to establish herself as a composer, leaving her children behind. Her first success was the 1915 song "Down Here," beginning "It's Quiet Down Here" with lyrics by P.J. O'Reilly. In 1914 she returned to Australia, but only for long enough to bring her family back to England. Brahe published under her married name and nine

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...

s. This allowed more frequent publication, as publishers were reluctant to publish more than four of her songs in a year. The names she composed under included: Mervyn Banks, Mary Hannah Brahe, Donald Crichton, Stanley Dickson, Alison Dodd, Stanton Douglas, Eric Faulkner, Wilbur B. Fox, Henry Lovell, Mary Hanna Morgan, and George Pointer. In 1919 her husband was killed in a motor accident. In 1922, in London, she married George Albert Morgan, an Australian-born actor. When her publisher was taken over by Boosey & Hawkes in 1925, she became one of their few composers on an annual retainer. In the next 18 years she published 400 compositions, mainly ballads. Dame

Nellie Melba Dame Nellie Melba (born Helen Porter Mitchell; 19 May 186123 February 1931) was an Australian operatic dramatic coloratura soprano (three octaves). She became one of the most famous singers of the late Victorian era and the early 20th centur ...

, Peter Dawson,

John Charles Thomas John Charles Thomas (September 6, 1891December 13, 1960) was an American opera, operetta and concert baritone. Biography John Charles Thomas was born on September 6, 1891 in Meyersdale, Pennsylvania. He was the son of a Methodist minister of W ...

and other singers recorded her songs, many of which were chosen as items for school concerts in the United Kingdom, Australia and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. She made settings of poems by

William Blake William Blake (28 November 1757 – 12 August 1827) was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his life, Blake is now considered a seminal figure in the history of the poetry and visual art of the Romantic Age. ...

, Robert Browning, Robert Herrick,

Walter de la Mare Walter John de la Mare (; 25 April 1873 – 22 June 1956) was an English poet, short story writer, and novelist. He is probably best remembered for his works for children, for his poem "The Listeners", and for a highly acclaimed selection of ...

Dorothea Mackellar Isobel Marion Dorothea Mackellar, (1 July 1885 – 14 January 1968) was an Australian poet and fiction writer. Her poem ''My Country'' is widely known in Australia, especially its second stanza, which begins: "''I love a sunburnt country/ ...

and living lyricists such as Helen Taylor, Madge Dickson (her sister), and P. J. O'Reilly. Helen Taylor was her most frequent collaborator, including " Bless This House" (1927). This simple song became world-famous in recordings by singers such as John McCormack, Peter Dawson, Jan Peerce, Beniamino Gigli and

Josef Locke Joseph McLaughlin (23 March 1917 – 15 October 1999), known professionally as Josef Locke, was an Irish tenor. He was successful in the United Kingdom and Ireland in the 1940s and 1950s. Background Born in Derry, Ireland, he was the son of a ...

, through to

Vera Lynn Dame Vera Margaret Lynn (; 20 March 191718 June 2020) was an English singer and entertainer whose musical recordings and performances were very popular during World War II. She is honorifically known as the " Forces' Sweetheart", having giv ...

, Doris Day and Perry Como, and continues its popularity in the present day, with recordings by

Benjamin Luxon Benjamin Matthew Luxon (born 24 March 1937, Redruth, Cornwall) is a retired British baritone. Biography He studied with Walther Gruner at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama (while working part-time as a PE teacher in the East End) and est ...

Leontyne Price Mary Violet Leontyne Price (born February 10, 1927) is an American soprano who was the first African American soprano to receive international acclaim. From 1961 she began a long association with the Metropolitan Opera, where she was the first Af ...

and

. She wrote musical comedies, including ''Castles in Spain'', with a libretto by Sydney and

Muriel Box Violette Muriel Box, Baroness Gardiner, (22 September 1905 – 18 May 1991) was an English screenwriter and director, Britain's most prolific female director, having directed 12 feature films and one featurette. Her screenplay for ''The Seventh ...

. She returned to Australia in 1939 and lived in semi-retirement. She lived comfortably from song royalties. She died at

Bellevue Hill, New South Wales Bellevue Hill is a harbourside eastern suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia, located five kilometres east of the Sydney central business district, in the Municipality of Woollahra. The suburb is located within the Divi ...

in 1956; she was survived by two sons and a daughter of her first marriage and a son of her second. In 2018, it was revealed that her daughter Marita, under her married surname Perigoe, had spent the Second World War in London believing that she was a Nazi spy. Perigoe had in fact been duped by an agent of MI5 in what was known as the Fifth Column operation.

Musical compositions using the name May H. Brahe (incomplete)

Songs

* ''As I Went a'Roaming'' (Helen Taylor), Enoch & Sons publisher * ''Beaux and Belles'' (Helen Taylor) ** ''The Country Dance'' * '' Bless This House'' (Helen Taylor) * ''By Road and River'', 5 songs (Helen Taylor) ** ''O Western Wind!'' ** ''Red Roofs'' * ''The Call of the Maytime'' (Helen Taylor) * ''Children of All Nations'' (Lucie Smith) * ''Close Thine Eyes'' (adapted from lyrics by

King Charles I of England Charles I (19 November 1600 – 30 January 1649) was King of England, Scotland, and Ireland from 27 March 1625 until Execution of Charles I, his execution in 1649. He was born into the House of Stuart as the second son of King James VI of ...

) * ''Coming Home Along'' (Nancie B. Marsland) * ''Country Folk'' (Helen Taylor) * ''Cradle Me Low'' (Helen Taylor) * ''Cuckoo Calls'' (Helen Taylor) * ''The Days of Old'' (Porter Emerson Brown) * ''Down Here'' (P. J. O'Reilly), Enoch & Sons publisher * ''Evening Shadows'' (Jean Crichton) * ''The Everlasting Love'' (Helen Taylor) * Four Songs from "Peacock Pie" (

) ** ''The Old Stone House'' * ''From Far and Near'' (Alban Gordon) * ''Galloping Dreary Dun'' (adapted by P. J. O'Reilly) * ''Give Me Your Hand'' (George Cooper) * ''Good-bye, and God be with You'' (P. J. O'Reilly) * ''Guess You Know'' (Helen Taylor) * ''The Haunting Little Tune'' (Harold George) * ''I Passed by your Window'' (Helen Taylor), Enoch & Sons publisher * ''I Thought I'd Forgotten (But Still I Remember)'' (Helen Taylor) * ''I Walked in My Garden'' (Harold George) * ''In a Month of Sundays'' (Dorothy Dickinson) * ''A Japanese Love Song'' (Madge Dickson), Enoch & Sons publisher, 1910 * ''Jennifer'' (Royden Barrie) * ''Keep Thou My Heart'' (Edward Lockton) * ''Last Night'' (Shirley Darbyshire) * ''A Leafy Wood'' (Jean Lucas) * ''Life's Balcony'' (Helen Taylor) * ''Listen, Mary'' (Constance Wilford) * ''Little Bird'' (Dorothy Harrison) * ''A Little Green Lane'' (Desmond Carter) * ''Little Lamb'' (

) * ''Look Up to the Sunrise'' (Edward Lockton) * ''Love and Life'', 5 little songs * ''Love Me Little, Love Me Long'' (Anonymous) * ''Marjorie'' (Walter Learned) * ''Matthew, Mark, Luke and John'' (adapted by Walter de la Mare) * ''Messengers'' (Helen Taylor) * ''My Dear Old Town'' (Arthur L. Salmon) * ''A Northern Lament'' (Helen Taylor) * ''Nothing to Say'' (Fred E. Weatherly) * ''The Nutmeg Tree'' (adapted by Margaret Lucas) * ''A Parting Prayer'' (John Marvell) * ''My Prayer for You'' (Margaret Dickson) * ''Off to the Greenwood'' (Helen Taylor) * ''Oh, Pray for Peace'' (Helen Taylor) * ''A Pageant of Summer'', song cycle for 4 voices (Helen Taylor): ** ''Meadowsweet'' ** ''None-so-pretty'' ** ''Traveller's Joy'' * ''The Piper from Over the Way'' (Helen Taylor) * ''A Prayer in Absence'' (Helen Taylor) * ''The Queen'' (Alex C. Welsh) * ''Real Australian Children Songs'' (Madge Dickson) * ''Ring-Time'' (Helen Taylor) * ''She is All So Slight'' (Richard Aldington) * ''Shy Mignonette'' (Helen Taylor) * ''Sitting at Home by the Fire'' (Helen Taylor) * ''Sleep, Pretty Babe''Australian Music Centre
/ref> * ''Song of a Cretan Warrior'' (Thomas Campbell) * ''A Song of Exile'' (P. J. O'Reilly) * ''Song Pictures'', 5 songs (Helen Taylor) ** ''I Passed By Your Window'' ** ''To a Miniature'' * ''Spindrift'', 5 songs (Ethel Tindal Atkinson/Madge Dickson) * ''Spring Blossoms'', 4 little songs (Morris Hazlitt/Madge Dickson/ Robert Herrick) * ''Spring is on the Way'' (Jean Crichton) * ''Sweet and Low'' * ''That's All'' (Helen Taylor) * ''There's a Whisper in the Air'' (Nancie B. Marsland) * ''Through the April Meadows'' (Helen Taylor) * ''Two Little Words'' (Helen Taylor) * Two Songs ( Robert Browning)The Lied and Art Song Text Page
/ref> ** ''Oh, to be in England'' ** ''The Year's at the Spring'' * ''When I Hear a Song-Lark'' (Morris Hazlitt) * ''The Wide Brown Land'' (

) * ''Years Ago'' (Helen Taylor) * ''You'll Come Home Again'' (Harold George) * ''Yours Alone'' (Helen Taylor)

Cantatas

* ''Dame Durden's School'', juvenile cantata * ''The Magic Wood'', juvenile cantata

Musical comedy

* ''Castles in Spain'', a South-American musical romance (libretto:

Sydney Box Frank Sydney Box (29 April 1907 – 25 May 1983) was a British film producer and screenwriter, and brother of British film producer Betty Box. In 1940, he founded the documentary film company Verity Films with Jay Lewis. He produced and co- ...

, Montgomery Tully; lyrics: Harold V. Purcell,

)

Piano solo

* ''Gay Pastorale'' * ''Marita'' * ''Minuet for Ninon'' * ''Toy Town Patrol''

Musical compositions using the name Stanley Dickson

* ''Crying for the Moon'' (Dorothy M. Tweedale) * ''Dancing Days'' (Helen Taylor) * ''God Bless You'' (Kathleen Stuart) * ''Little Brown Cottage'' (Greatrex Newman) * ''Thanks Be to God'' (P. J. O'Reilly)

Musical compositions using the name Alison Dodd

* ''Invitation'' (Rose Fyleman)

References

Australian Dictionary of Biography

Music Australia

NLA Catalogue

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Brahe, May 1884 births 1956 deaths Australian women classical composers Australian songwriters Musicians from Melbourne Australian classical composers 20th-century women musicians