- unitid
-
{"value"=>"186322", "type"=>"local_mss"}
{"value"=>"JPB 24-07", "type"=>"local_call"}
{"value"=>"b23494643", "type"=>"local_b"}
- unitdate
-
{"value"=>"1924-2020", "type"=>"inclusive", "normal"=>"1924/2020"}
{"value"=>"1941-2020", "type"=>"bulk", "normal"=>"1941/2020"}
- unittitle
-
{"value"=>"Marga Richter papers"}
- physdesc
-
{"format"=>"structured", "physdesc_components"=>[{"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"64 boxes", "unit"=>"containers"}, {"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"22 linear feet", "unit"=>"linear_feet"}]}
{"format"=>"structured", "physdesc_components"=>[{"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"124 audio recordings", "unit"=>"audio_recordings"}]}
{"format"=>"structured", "physdesc_components"=>[{"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"3 video recordings", "unit"=>"video_recordings"}]}
- repository
-
{"value"=>"<span class=\"corpname\">Music Division</span>"}
- abstract
-
{"value"=>"Marga Richter (1926-2020) was a Long Island-based American composer and pianist who had a long and productive career, with her work performed by many notable ensembles and soloists. Her papers, dating from 1924-2020, strongly document the composer's music and working life, mostly from the early-1940s until her death in 2020. The papers consist of scores; subject files; business and personal correspondence; programs; clippings; information on compositions and performances; photographs; and sound and video recordings."}
- langmaterial
-
{"value"=>"English"}
- origination
-
{"value"=>"Richter, Marga", "type"=>"persname"}
- bioghist
-
{"value"=>"<p>Marga Richter (1926-2020) was an American composer and pianist. Born in Wisconsin, she began piano studies at age four and was composing by the time she was twelve. Her family moved to New York City in 1943 so Richter could have access to more learning and performance opportunities, and she entered the Juilliard School in 1945. She was initially a piano major, but soon switched to the composition program, where she was the only female student. Richter studied with William Bergsma and Vincent Persichetti, and earned her bachelor and master degrees in 1949 and 1951, respectively.</p> <p>Some of Richter's notable works are <span class=\"title\">Sonata for Piano</span> (1954, recorded by Menahem Pressler); two pieces for the Harkness Ballet, <span class=\"title\">The Abyss</span> (1964) and <span class=\"title\">Bird of Yearning</span> (1968); <span class=\"title\">Landscapes of the Mind</span>, a series of three works composed over a decade; <span class=\"title\">Out of Shadows and Solitude</span> (1985); <span class=\"title\">Qhanri (Snow Mountain) - Tibetan Variations for Cello and Piano</span> (1988); and <span class=\"title\">Variations and Interludes on Themes from Monteverdi and Bach</span> (\"Triple Concerto,\" 1993).</p> <p>Richter found it difficult as a woman to have her work performed, and she resorted to producing her own concert in 1981 at Merkin Hall in New York City in order to showcase her work. Her music was eventually performed and recorded by notable soloists and orchestras, including violinist Daniel Heifetz, clarinetist Stanley Drucker, pianist William Masselos, violist Walter Trampler, the Atlantic Quartet, the Minnesota Orchestra, the Atlanta Symphony, the Polish Radio National Symphony Orchestra, and the London Philharmonic. Richter received grant funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Martha Baird Rockefeller Fund, the National Federation of Music Clubs, and Meet the Composer.</p> <p>Richter lived on Long Island for many years. In 1972, with the composer Herbert Deutsch, she founded the Long Island Composers Alliance, which became one of the most active composer collectives in the United States, holding regular concerts of new music.</p> <p>Richter died at the age of 93 in Barnegat, New Jersey.</p>"}
- scopecontent
-
{"value"=>"<p>The Marga Richter papers, dating from 1924 to 2020, strongly document the creation and evolution of Richter's music and the course of her career. Most of the collection dates from the early-1940s until Richter's death in 2020. The papers consist of scores; subject files; business and personal correspondence; programs; clippings; information on compositions and performances; journals and notes; photographs; and sound and video recordings, which hold primarily performances of Richter's work.</p>"}
{"value"=>"<p class='list-head'>The Marga Richter papers are arranged in three series:</p>\n<ul class='arrangement series-descriptions'>\n<li><div class='series-title'><a href='/mus/186322#c1773034'>Series I: Business Files</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1924-2020</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>The Business Files, dating from 1924 to 2020, evidence the business and promotional aspects of Richter's career, as well as her work's performance history and critical reactions to it. It also reveals the history of the Long Island Composers Alliance. Most of the content is subject files for organizations, performing ensembles, publishers, management, record labels, funding agencies, and particular concerts or events. The series also holds biographies of Richter, a clippings file, and three other subdivisions, the Composition File, the Performance File, letters, journals and notes.</p> <p>The Composition File, arranged alphabetically, contains programs, performance histories, clippings, correspondence, and notes regarding Richter's works. This content is somewhat paralleled by the Performance File. Arranged chronologically, it holds programs, press releases, presenter brochures, and correspondence with presenters.</p> <p>The letters are mostly professional but contain some correspondence with friends or family members. Other correspondents include musicians, presenters, music industry professionals, and composers. Some letter files are larger than others, but there is no substantial ongoing correspondence with anyone in the collection.</p> <p>Further content in the series includes journals and notes, which date from 1976 onward; lecture notes; earning reports from the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) and publishers including Carl Fischer, G. Schirmer, and Broude Brothers; an interview transcript; and photographs, which hold headshots of Richter and a print of Richter with her son, pianist Michael Skelly.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/mus/186322#c1773301'>Series II: Scores</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1941-2020</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>This series, dating from 1941 to 2020, holds scores for most of Richter's compositions, starting with her work as a teenager to her last revisions of earlier pieces. The scores include major compositions such as <span class=\"title\">Sonata for Piano</span>, <span class=\"title\">Variations and Interludes on Themes from Monteverdi and Bach</span>, the <span class=\"title\">Landscapes of the Mind</span> series of works, ballets such as <span class=\"title\">The Abyss</span> and <span class=\"title\">Bird of Yearning</span>, string quartets, songs for voice and piano, choral works, and chamber music. There are also arrangements by Richter for four pianos of well-known classical works, dating from the 1950s. The scores consist of sketches, manuscripts, copyist masters, revisions, edits, and scores used in performance or recording. Richter often orchestrated the same material for different performing forces, and would revise her work years or decades after its original composition. Starting around 2000, she used Sibelius score software for both new compositions and revisions to older ones. Researchers should also consult the Composition File in Series I for more information on the compositions.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/mus/186322#c1773619'>Series III: Sound and Video Recordings</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1948-2017</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>Series III holds primarily sound recordings of Richter's work, including <span class=\"title\">Landscapes of the Mind</span> (I-III), <span class=\"title\">Dew-drops on a Lotus Leaf</span>, <span class=\"title\">Fragments</span>, <span class=\"title\">Qhanri (Snow Mountain) - Tibetan Variations for Cello and Piano</span>, <span class=\"title\">Quantum Quirks of a Quick Quaint Quark</span>, <span class=\"title\">Variations and Interludes on Themes from Monteverdi and Bach</span>, <span class=\"title\">Seacliff Variations</span>, <span class=\"title\">Sonata for Clarinet and Piano</span>, and <span class=\"title\">Riders to the Sea</span>, among others. A few of the recordings are Sibelius digital realizations, not performances. Also present in this series are interviews with Richter, the Fortieth Anniversary concert of the Long Island Composers Alliance, and a few unidentified recordings. A few of the original media items had paper inserts with content listings and other contextual information. These were separated and are contained in the Insert File at the top of this series' container list.</p></div></li></ul>\n", "type"=>"arrangement"}
- acqinfo
-
{"value"=>"<p>Bequeathed by <span class=\"name\">Marga Richter</span> in <span class=\"date\">2020</span>.</p>"}
- processinfo
-
{"value"=>"<p>Processed by <span class=\"name\">Matthew Snyder</span> in <span class=\"date\">2024</span>.</p>"}
- accessrestrict
-
{"value"=>"<p>Inquiries regarding audio and video materials in the collection may be directed to the Rodgers and Hammerstein Archives of Recorded Sound (recordedsound@nypl.org). Audio and video materials will be subject to preservation evaluation and migration prior to access.</p>"}
- date_start
-
1924
- keydate
-
1924
- date_end
-
2020
- date_inclusive_start
-
1924
- date_inclusive_end
-
2020
- date_bulk_start
-
1941
- date_bulk_end
-
2020
- extent_statement
-
22 linear feet (64 boxes). 124 audio recordings. 3 video recordings
- prefercite
-
{"value"=>"Marga Richter papers, JPB 24-07. Music Division, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts"}