Marga Richter facts for kids
Florence Marga Richter (born October 21, 1926 – died June 25, 2020) was an American composer. She wrote classical music and was also a talented pianist.
Her Life Story
Marga Richter was born in Reedsburg, Wisconsin. Her mother, Inez Chandler, was a singer, and her father, Paul Richter, was a German army captain.
Marga started learning piano at the MacPhail School of Music in Minneapolis. She also studied piano in New York. In 1945, she joined the Juilliard School of Music. There, she studied how to compose music with William Bergsma and Vincent Persichetti. She also continued her piano studies with Rosalyn Tureck. She earned her degrees in 1951.
After finishing her studies, Marga taught music for a short time. Later, she decided to focus on composing music full-time.
In the early 1950s, Marga Richter wrote music for the Harkness Ballet, which is a dance company. Her music was also recorded and released on many albums. In the 1970s, two of her big orchestral pieces, Landscapes of the Mind I and Blackberry Vines and Winter Fruit, were performed a lot. She also got a contract to publish her music.
During the 1980s, Marga wrote music for voices and choirs, as well as for orchestras and smaller groups of instruments. In the 1990s, she composed her only opera, called Riders to the Sea. An opera is a play where most of the words are sung.
Marga often wrote music to honor people who were important to her. For example, she wrote Lament for her mother and Threnody for her father.
In 1972, Marga Richter helped start the Long Island Composers Alliance with Herbert Deutsch. She served as a leader in this group for many years. Marga had a son, Michael Skelly, who is a pianist, and a daughter who is a nurse. A book about her life was published in 2012. She passed away on June 25, 2020, in Barnegat, New Jersey.
Her Musical Style
Marga Richter's music has a special sound. She often used many different notes that are close together (this is called chromaticism). She also used sounds that might seem a bit clashing but create interesting tension (dissonance). She liked to repeat musical patterns (ostinatos) and layer different sounds on top of each other. Her music often felt exciting and dramatic.
She frequently used musical intervals called "seconds" and "sevenths." Her music sometimes got ideas from American, Irish, and Asian cultures. Even though she taught only a few students, she inspired many women composers who came after her, like Dianne Goolkasian Rahbee.
Marga Richter was known for being one of the few women composers of her time who wrote music for large groups of performers, like full orchestras, ballets, and big musical ensembles.
Awards and Recognitions
Marga Richter received many awards for her music:
- Annual awards from ASCAP since 1966. ASCAP is an organization that protects the rights of music creators.
- Two grants from the National Endowment for the Arts (in 1977 and 1979). These grants help support artists.
- A grant from the Martha Baird Rockefeller Fund.
- A Meet the Composer grant.
- A grant from the National Federation of Music Clubs.
Some of Her Works
Marga Richter wrote music for many different types of groups, including orchestras, ballets, operas, choirs, and solo instruments. Her music has been performed all over the world. Here are a few examples of her compositions:
- Abyss (a ballet), 1964
- Riders to the Sea (an opera), 1996
- Concerto for Piano and Violas, Cellos and Basses, 1955
- Lament, for string orchestra, 1956
- Concerto No. 2 Landscapes of the Mind I, for piano and orchestra, 1968–74
- Blackberry Vines and Winter Fruit, 1976
- Düsseldorf Concerto, for flute, harp, viola, and small orchestra, 1981–82
- Quantum Quirks of a Quick Quaint Quark, 1991
- Variations on a Theme by Neidhart von Reuenthal, for piano, 1974
See also
In Spanish: Marga Richter para niños
