May Brahe facts for kids

May Brahe (born Mary Hannah Dickson) was an Australian composer. She lived from 1884 to 1956. She is most famous for her songs and ballads. Her most well-known song is "Bless This House." Many famous singers have recorded it, like John McCormack and Lesley Garrett.

May Brahe was the only Australian woman composer to become famous both in Australia and around the world before World War II. She wrote about 500 songs, and 290 of them were published. She used her own name for 248 songs and different names for the rest.

Biography

May Brahe was born in East Melbourne, Australia, in 1884. Her birth name was Mary Hannah Dickson. She was known as May from a young age. Her mother taught her to play the piano. She also studied music at Stratherne Girls' School in Hawthorn. Later, she learned from Mona McBurney and singer Alice Rebotarro.

In 1903, May married Frederick Brahe. They had two sons and a daughter. By 1910, she was playing piano in a music group with George W. L. Marshall-Hall. She also played for singers. In 1912, she moved to London to become a composer. She brought her children to England in 1914.

May Brahe published her music using her married name. She also used nine other names, called pseudonyms. This helped her publish more songs, as music publishers usually did not want to release more than four of her songs in a year. Some of the names she used were Mervyn Banks, Donald Crichton, Stanley Dickson, and Alison Dodd.

In 1919, her first husband passed away. In 1922, she married George Albert Morgan in London. He was an actor from Australia. In 1925, her music publisher joined with Boosey & Hawkes. May Brahe became one of the few composers who received a yearly payment from them. Over the next 18 years, she published 400 more songs, mostly ballads.

Famous singers like Dame Nellie Melba, Peter Dawson, and John Charles Thomas recorded her songs. Many of her songs were chosen for school concerts in the United Kingdom, Australia, and the United States.

May Brahe wrote music for poems by famous writers like William Blake and Robert Browning. She also worked with lyricists (people who write song words) like Helen Taylor and her sister, Madge Dickson. Helen Taylor was her most frequent partner. They wrote "Bless This House" together in 1927. This simple song became famous worldwide. Many singers, from John McCormack to Vera Lynn and Doris Day, recorded it. It is still popular today.

She also wrote musical comedies, like Castles in Spain. She returned to Australia in 1939 and lived a quiet life. She earned a good living from the money her songs made. May Brahe passed away in Bellevue Hill, New South Wales in 1956. Her two sons and daughter from her first marriage, and a son from her second marriage, survived her.

Musical Compositions

May Brahe wrote many songs and other musical pieces. Here are some examples of her work:

Songs (under the name May H. Brahe)

• Bless This House (lyrics by Helen Taylor)
• Down Here (lyrics by P. J. O'Reilly)
• I Passed by your Window (lyrics by Helen Taylor)
• A Japanese Love Song (lyrics by Madge Dickson)
• Little Lamb (lyrics by William Blake)
• Oh, to be in England (lyrics by Robert Browning)
• The Wide Brown Land (lyrics by Dorothea Mackellar)
• The Year's at the Spring (lyrics by Robert Browning)

Cantatas

• Dame Durden's School (a short musical story for young singers)
• The Magic Wood (another short musical story for young singers)

Musical Comedy

• Castles in Spain (a musical play with a story by Sydney Box and Muriel Box)

Piano Solo Pieces

• Gay Pastorale
• Marita
• Minuet for Ninon
• Toy Town Patrol

Songs (under the name Stanley Dickson)

• Thanks Be to God (lyrics by P. J. O'Reilly)

Songs (under the name Alison Dodd)

• Invitation (lyrics by Rose Fyleman)