May Brahe

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, Lesley Garrett and Bryn Terfel. According to Move.com.au: “She was the only Australian woman composer to win local an international recognition before World War II,” having “290 of her 500 songs published. Of these, 248 were written under her own name, the remainder under aliases. Biography Mary Hannah Dickson was born in East Melbourne 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, 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 to establish herself as a composer, leaving her children behind in the care of family. Her first success was the 1915 song “Down Here,” beginning “It’s Quiet Down Here” with lyrics by P.J. O