Olive and Friends: Olive Ingall’s Songs in the Brisbane City Council Concerts

Guest blogger: Juanita Simmonds, recipient of the Christina Boughen OAM Fellowship for 2022

In the 1940s and early ’50s, the composer Olive Ingall (1892‑1979) lived in Townsville and Brisbane. Although Olive’s music is not often performed today, rediscovering her songs in the Brisbane City Council concerts helps to remember Queensland musicians of the mid‑20th century. 

Theatre 

In the 1920s, Olive had been a performer and co-director of The Royal Sydney Players, an amateur group whose shows raised money for charity. 

As well as this background of performing in theatre, Olive wrote several plays including Stolen Star (1937) and On Wings of Song (1947), according to records in the National Archives of Australia.

Music 

Olive also wrote both the lyrics and music for songs, two of which were published by Chappell & Co. These were “My Lute and I” published in 1946, followed by “Idyll” the next year. Both these tunes, and her song “Dark Hour”, were broadcast onBBC radio. 

As well as this international success, Olive’s songs were heard on Australian airwaves, in eisteddfods as the set work, and in recitals such as the Brisbane City Council concerts. 

Meanwhile, Olive also collaborated with Brisbane composer Linda Roy Bowman, who set Olive’s lyrics to music in “Spring is a Lovely Lady”. The State Library of Queensland holds this piece in manuscript. 

“My Lute and I” and Eunice Johnson (née Cochrane) 

Olive dedicated her first song, “My Lute and I”, to Eunice Johnson, a solo pianist, accompanist, teacher and singer originally from Maryborough. Eunice moved to Brisbane, and then taught music and performed in concerts in her adopted city through to the 1930s, under her birth surname of Cochrane. 

Two decades after it was first published, “My Lute and I” was still being performed. For example, at the council’s Civic Concert on 16 December 1966, audiences heard Olive’s song alongside music by renowned classical composers like Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and Camille Saint‑Saëns. That night in City Hall, the official accompanist was Christina Boughen, then known professionally by her birth surname of Whyte. 

“Idyll” and Ruby Dent 

Olive dedicated her song “Idyll” to Ruby Dent, a Brisbane singer, teacher and musical director of the Musical and Theatre Guild of Queensland. Ruby conducted the orchestra for the Guild’s stage productions, and in 1948 The Courier-Mail wrote, “She believes she is the only woman in Queensland to have conducted an orchestra professionally.” 

“Idyll” was performed in the council concerts by both student and professional musicians. For instance, the Junior Civic Concert on Friday 31 March 1950 included it on the program. And, in May 1949, professional musicians soprano Gwen O’Donnell and pianist Hilda Woolmer performed “Idyll” in the Chamber Music recital. The night was reviewed by Ernest Briggs, who named Olive’s song as one of the highlights. 

Olive later moved back to Sydney, where her music continued to be heard. 

Juanita Simmonds 

Collections

• Christina Boughen OAM and Robert Boughen OBE papers, John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland. Collection Guide
• Song for contralto, “Spring is a Lovely Lady”, words by Olive Ingall, music by Linda Roy Bowman in [Miscellaneous publications] Linda Roy Bowman, John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland. 

Blogs:

• A curtain call for Christina Boughen
• Concerts aplenty: Christina Boughen and the mid-century City Hall performances
• Christina Boughen and the Brisbane City Council concerts, 1978-1997
• Other blogs by Christina Boughen OAM Fellows

Videos and Podcast:

• Juanita Simmonds talking about her research project
• 2022 Queensland Memory Fellows. A year in review
• Watch Juanita's Research Reveals talk about her project (30:21).
• Juanita Simmonds on Christina Boughen - Infinite Women podcast