Even now, in time of COVID, with concerts being cancelled left and right, and unrelated classical music news slowing to a trickle, I still can’t seem to cover everything. One obituary I noted, but didn’t have a chance to acknowledge, was that of Marga Richter, who died on June 25 at the age of 93. News of her death reached me only last weekend.
Richter was born in Reedsburg, WI, in 1926. She began piano lessons at the age of four, and started composing at 12. When her family moved to New York City, to be with her while she attended Juilliard, again she started out studying as a pianist, and then shifted her focus to composition. Among her teachers were William Bergsma and Vincent Persichetti.
For much of her career, Richter found it was uphill fight to have her work taken seriously. She told the New York Times in 1981, “Conductors or musicians see a woman’s name on a score, and they won’t take a look at it.” Nevertheless, she persevered.
Of necessity, her music was sometimes presented on self-financed concerts or featured in programs devoted exclusively to women or minorities. She was not much fond of the current trend toward such “niche” events. She remarked that composers like herself didn’t want to be “featured;” they would much rather be absorbed.
Richter was the composer of nearly 200 works, including an opera, “Riders to the Sea.” At the time of her death, she was a resident of Barnegat, NJ.
“Aria and Toccata” (1957), with violist Walter Trampler:
Piano Concerto No. 1 (1955):
“Summer Reverie on a Mountainside” for two clarinets (2009):
