Annie May Constance Summerbelle (1867 – 1947) was an Australian composer of light classical and popular music.[1][2][3] She was the third daughter of Captain William and Honoriah Summerbelle of Double Bay.[4] Her sister, Stella Clare, married Francis Joseph Bayldon, a master mariner and nautical instructor.[5] From the late 1880s she was a student of Alice Charbonnet-Kellermann, with Summerbelle's earliest compositions appearing in the early 1890s.[6]
Among a hundred compositions, she had music selected for the British Empire Exhibition in London.[7]
Her song So Long was played by the Australian Light Horse as the first wave embarked on the Gallipoli campaign.[8][9] The song was also selected by Australian entertainers despatched to entertain troops.[10]
She married Herbert Glasson in 1893[4] and wrote 'Love is a fadeless flower' while heavily pregnant with his child. The same year Herbert was convicted and executed for murder and robbery under arms.[11]
Ms Summerbelle involved herself with repertory theatre groups via the Sydney Press-Women.[12]
^ ab"Summerbelle". Avemariasongs.org. Retrieved 12 October 2018.
^ ab"Family Notices". Freeman's Journal. Vol. XLIV, no. 2553. New South Wales, Australia. 11 February 1893. p. 11. Retrieved 14 October 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
^"Mainly About People". Daily News. Vol. XLIII, no. 15, 277. Western Australia. 7 April 1924. p. 7 (THIRD EDITION). Retrieved 14 October 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
^"SINGING FOR THE SOLDIERS". The Sun. No. 649. New South Wales, Australia. 5 September 1915. p. 17 (SUNDAY EDITION). Retrieved 4 November 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
^"IN THE WINTER GARDEN". Freeman's Journal. Vol. LXIX, no. 4098. New South Wales, Australia. 15 February 1917. p. 28. Retrieved 14 October 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
^"NEW MUSIC". The Sydney Morning Herald. No. 22, 035. New South Wales, Australia. 31 August 1908. p. 3. Retrieved 14 June 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
^"AUSTRALIAN COMPOSERS". The Sunday Times. No. 1053. New South Wales, Australia. 25 March 1906. p. 1 (The Sunday Times Magazine Section). Retrieved 13 October 2018 – via National Library of Australia.