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Louise Talma (1906-1996)

Louise Talma, composerLouise Talma was born in France and raised and educated in New York City. She received a Bachelor of Music degree from New York University, and a Masters of Arts degree from Columbia University. While working on her undergraduate degree, she also attended the Institute of Musical Arts (Juilliard School of Music). Perhaps her more rigorous training, however, was at the American Conservatory in Fontainebleau, France, where she studied piano with Isadore Philipp and, later, composition (for 17 summers) with Nadia Boulanger, who remained a close friend and colleague for many years. Since the early 1940s Talma visited the MacDowell Colony in Peterborough, New Hampshire. Here she came under the influence of the “Boston group” of composers: Lukas Foss, Irving Fine, Harold Shapero, Claudio Spies, Arthur Berger and Alexie Haieff. Throughout her life Talma composed most of her music at MacDowell. Upon her death Talma showed her appreciation for the MacDowell colony with a bequest of one million dollars to provide for future generations of artists. Talma’s compositional output comprises more than forty major works, including four orchestral pieces and a full-scale three-act opera (see the work list in Appendix A). Her compositions have been performed by the Baltimore Symphony, the Buffalo Philharmonic, the NBC Symphony, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and the Frankfurt Opera House, among others. Her work in music has been widely acclaimed, and she has been awarded honorary doctorates from Hunter College (1983), Bard College (1984), and St. Mary-of-the-Woods (1991). She was also honored with two Guggenheim Fellowships, two grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, and a Fulbright Grant. Talma was the first woman to receive two Guggenheims, the first woman elected to the National Institute of Arts and Letters (1974), the first American woman to have a full-scale opera performed in Germany, the first American to teach at Fontainebleau, and the first woman to receive the Sibelius Medal for composition.

COMPOSITIONS                                                            Talma Links     ~ ~ ~     Works by Genre
Death Be Not Proud, voice and piano (????)
When the Storm Breaks for Him,  voice and piano (????)
Psalm 42, chorus and piano (????)
The Spirit of the Lord, voice, chorus and orchestra (????)
Isabeau poème, orchestra (????)
Woodwind Piece, wind quintet (????)
Song of the Songless, voice and piano (1928) [text: Meredith]
[untitled], female chorus and string quartet (1929)
Three Madrigals, female chorus and string quartet (1929) [1928?]
La Belle Dame Sans Merci, female chorus (1929) [text: J. Keats]
[untitled], piano (1932)
Two Dances, piano (1934)
Five Sonnets from the Portuguese, voice and piano (1934) [text: Elizabeth Barrett Browning]
Late Leaves, [voice and piano?] (1934) [text: Landor]
Never Seek to Tell Thy Love, voice and piano (1934) [text: William Blake]
A Child's Fancy, song cycle, [voice and piano?] (1935) [text: Edith Gould]
Fourteen Groundbass Variations on Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird, female chorus & pf (1938) [text: Wallace Stevens]         - ?arr. 1979 for voice, oboe and piano
I Fear a Man of Scanty Speech, [voice and piano?] (1938) [text: Emily Dickinson]
In Principio Erat Verbum, chorus and organ (1939)
Four-Handed Fun, 2 pianos (1939)
Wedding Piece: Where Thou Goest I Go, organ (1940) [1946?]
One Need Not Be a Chamber to be Haunted, voice and piano (1941) [text: Dickinson] [pub. in "Seven Songs for Voice and Piano"]
Carmina Mariana (3 songs), 2-part female chorus & pf (1943) [arr. 1963: female chorus & org; 1964: female chorus & small orch]
Piano Sonata No. 1 ( 1943)
Toccata for Orchestra (1944)
Alleluia in the Form of Toccata, piano (1944; pub. 1947) [see "Pastoral Prelude", 1949]
Terre de France, song cycle (5 songs), soprano or tenor and piano (1943-45)
Letter to St. Peter, soprano and piano (1945) [text: E. Dean]
Leap Before You Look, voice and piano (1945) [text: W. H. Auden] [pub. in "Seven Songs for Voice and Piano"]
Italian Suite, piano (1946)
Sonnet: I wake and feel the fell of dark, voice and piano (1946) [text: G. M. Hopkins] [pub. in "Seven Songs for Voice and Piano"]
Spring and Fall: To a Young Child, voice and piano (1946) [text: G. M. Hopkins] [pub. in "Seven Songs for Voice and Piano"]
Pied Beauty (Glory Be to God for Dappled Things), voice & pf (1946) [text: GM Hopkins] [in "Seven Songs for Voice and Piano"]
Venetian Folly: Overture and Barcarolle, piano (1946-47)
The Divine Flame, oratorio, mezzo-soprano, baritone, chorus and organ (1946-48) [not "Devine Flame"]
Pastoral Prelude, piano (1949) ["May be used as a prelude to 'Alleluia' by the same composer"]
Bagatelle, piano (1950)
Sonnet: Not, I'll not, carrion comfort, voice and piano (1950) [text: G. M. Hopkins] [pub. in "Seven Songs for Voice and Piano"]
The Leaden Echo and the Golden Echo: a choral dialogue, soprano, double chorus and piano (1950-51) [text: G. M. Hopkins]
Song and Dance, violin and piano (1951)
Let's Touch the Sky (3 songs), chorus, flute, oboe and bassoon (1952) [text: e.e. cummings]
La Corona (Holy Sonnets) (7 songs), chorus (1951-54) [text: John Donne]
Six Etudes for Piano (1953-54)
String Quartet (1954)
Piano Sonata No. 2 (1944-55)
Three Bagatelles, piano (1955) [Allegro moderato; Molto tranquillo; Allegro ma non troppo]
The Alcestiad, opera (1955-58) [based on Thornton Wilder]
Christmas Carol, "Chorus Angelorum, Piccolassima Fughetta, Molto Tonale, Sopra un Téma,  Torentoni Niventis Wilderi",
        a fugal motet, 3 voices (1959) [written for Thornton Wilder]
Birthday Song, tenor, flute and viola (1960) [text: Edmund Spencer]
Passacaglia and Fugue, piano (1955/62)
Sonata for Violin and Piano (1962)
Dialogues, piano and orchestra (1963-64)
Cantata: All the Days of My Life, tenor, cl, vc, perc, pf and celesta (1963-65) [text: from the Bible; and an anonymous poet]
A Time to Remember, chorus and orchestra (1966-67) [text: Bible; J.F. Kennedy; Arthur Schlesinger, jr]
Three Duologues, clarinet and piano (1967-68)
The Tolling Bell, triptych for baritone and orchestra (1967-69)
Summer Sounds, clarinet and string quartet (1969-73)
Voices of Peace, chorus and string orch (1973) [text: Latin mass; Prayer of St. Francis, G.M. Hopkins, & Biblical/liturgial sources]
Rain Song, voice and piano (1973) [text: Jean Garrigue] [pub. in "Seven Songs for Voice and Piano"]
Soundshots (20 short pieces), piano (1944-74; pub. 1979) [early title: "Little Pieces for Little Fingers"]
Celebration, female chorus and small orchestra (1976-77)
Textures, piano (1977)
Psalm 84, chorus (1978) [commissioned 1984(?) by Corpus Christi Church, NYC]
Have You Heard? Do You Know?, divertimento in 7 scenes, soprano, mezzo-soprano, tenor and chamber ensemble (1974-80)
Diadem (7 songs), tenor or soprano, flute, clarinet, violin, cello and piano (1978-80) [text: Confucius and Medieval sources]
Lament, cello and piano (1980)
Studies in Spacing, clarinet and piano (1982) [?originally for 3 winds]
Ambient Air, flute, violin, cello and piano (1980-83)
Fanfare for Hunter College, 2 trumpets and 3 trombones (1983)
Mass for the Sundays of the Year, chorus (1984) [commissioned by Corpus Christi Church, NY] [?same as "Mass in English"]
Mass in English, chorus (1984) [?same as "Mass for the Sundays of the Year"]
KaliedescopicVariations, piano (1984)
Full Circle, chamber orchestra (1985)
A Wreath of Blessings (5 songs), chorus (1985) [text: W. Cartwright, G. Herbert, L. Larcom, Irish and Hebridean anon. poems]
Wishing Well, soprano and flute (1986) [text: Francisco Tanzes]
Seven Songs for Voice and Piano (pub. 1986) [a collection of previous published songs] - for contents see  here
Conversations, flute and piano (1985-87)
Seven Episodes, flute, viola and piano (1987)
Give Thanks and Praise, antiphonal double chorus (1989) [text: Bible; W. Cowper]
Ave atque vale, piano (1989)
In Praise of a Virtuous Woman, female chorus and piano (1990) [text: Proverbs 31: 10-30]
Infanta Marina, song cycle (9 songs), soprano and piano (1990) [text: W. Stevens]
Motet, "Psalm 115", chorus (1992) [commissioned by Corpus Christi Church, NYC]
The Lengthening Shadows, song cycle (9 songs planned; 4 completed), soprano & ensemble/cl, 2 vln, cello, pf (1993, unfinished)
Spacings, viola and piano (1994)


WORKS BY GENRE                                                            Talma Links     ~ top of page ~
Dramatic/Theater
The Alcestiad, opera (1955-58) [based on Thornton Wilder]
Have You Heard? Do You Know?, divertimento in 7 scenes, soprano, mezzo-soprano, tenor and chamber ensemble (1974-80)

Orchestra
Isabeau poème, orchestra (????)
Toccata for Orchestra (1944)
Full Circle, chamber orchestra (1985)

Soloist(s) w/Orchestra
Dialogues, piano and orchestra (1963-64)

Chorus w/Orchestra
Psalm 42, chorus and piano (????)
The Spirit of the Lord, voice, chorus and orchestra (????)
The Divine Flame, oratorio, mezzo-soprano, baritone, chorus and organ (1946-48) [not "Devine Flame"]
A Time to Remember, chorus and orchestra (1966-67) [text: Bible; J.F. Kennedy; Arthur Schlesinger, jr]
Voices of Peace, chorus and string orch (1973) [text: Latin mass; Prayer of St. Francis, G.M. Hopkins, & Biblical/liturgial sources]
Celebration, female chorus and small orchestra (1976-77)

Choral
[untitled], female chorus and string quartet (1929)
Three Madrigals, female chorus and string quartet (1929) [1928?]
La Belle Dame Sans Merci, female chorus (1929) [text: J. Keats]
Fourteen Groundbass Variations on Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird, female chorus & pf (1938) [text: Wallace Stevens]         - ?arr. 1979 for voice, oboe and piano
In Principio Erat Verbum, chorus and organ (1939)
Carmina Mariana (3 songs), 2-part female chorus & pf (1943) [arr. 1963: female chorus & org; 1964: female chorus & small orch]
    - Ave Maria
    - Regina Coeli
    - Salve Regina
The Leaden Echo and the Golden Echo: a choral dialogue, soprano, double chorus and piano (1950-51) [text: G. M. Hopkins]
Let's Touch the Sky (3 songs), chorus, flute, oboe and bassoon (1952) [text: e.e. cummings]
    - Anyone lived in a pretty how town
    - Love is more thicker than forget
    - If up's the word
La Corona (Holy Sonnets) (7 songs), chorus (1951-54) [text: John Donne]
    - La corona
    - Annunciation
    - Nativité
    - Temple
    - Crucifying
    - Resurrection
    - Ascention
Christmas Carol, "Chorus Angelorum, Piccolassima Fughetta, Molto Tonale, Sopra un Téma,  Torentoni Niventis Wilderi",
        a fugal motet, 3 voices (1959) [written for Thornton Wilder]
Psalm 84, chorus (1978) [commissioned 1984(?) by Corpus Christi Church, NYC]
Mass for the Sundays of the Year, chorus (1984) [commissioned by Corpus Christi Church, NY] [?same as "Mass in English"]
Mass in English, chorus (1984) [?same as "Mass for the Sundays of the Year"]
A Wreath of Blessings (5 songs), chorus (1985) [text: W. Cartwright, G. Herbert, L. Larcom, Irish and Hebridean anon. poems]
    - House blessing
    - Irish blessing
    - Augustine's work
    - A glasse of blessings
    - Chester Cathedral blessings
Give Thanks and Praise, antiphonal double chorus (1989) [text: Bible; W. Cowper]
In Praise of a Virtuous Woman, female chorus and piano (1990) [text: Proverbs 31: 10-30]
Motet, "Psalm 115", chorus (1992) [commissioned by Corpus Christi Church, NYC]

Chamber
Woodwind Piece, wind quintet (????)
String Quartet (1954)
Summer Sounds, clarinet and string quartet (1969-73)
Ambient Air, flute, violin, cello and piano (1980-83)
Fanfare for Hunter College, 2 trumpets and 3 trombones (1983)
Seven Episodes, flute, viola and piano (1987)

Instrument and Piano
Song and Dance, violin and piano (1951)
Sonata for Violin and Piano (1962)
Three Duologues, clarinet and piano (1967-68)
Lament, cello and piano (1980)
Studies in Spacing, clarinet and piano (1982) [?originally for 3 winds]
    - Intertwining
    - Crossing
    - Soft Focus
    - Column & Arch
    - Shadows
Conversations, flute and piano (1985-87)
Spacings, viola and piano (1994)

Piano/Organ
[untitled], piano (1932)
Two Dances, piano (1934)
Four-Handed Fun, 2 pianos (1939)
Wedding Piece: Where Thou Goest I Go, organ (1940) [1946?]
Piano Sonata No. 1 ( 1943)
Alleluia in the Form of Toccata, piano (1944; pub. 1947) [see "Pastoral Prelude", 1949]
Italian Suite, piano (1946)
Venetian Folly: Overture and Barcarolle, piano (1946-47)
Pastoral Prelude, piano (1949) ["May be used as a prelude to 'Alleluia' by the same composer"]
Bagatelle, piano (1950)
Six Etudes for Piano (1953-54)
Piano Sonata No. 2 (1944-55)
Three Bagatelles, piano (1955) [Allegro moderato; Molto tranquillo; Allegro ma non troppo]
Passacaglia and Fugue, piano (1955/62)
Soundshots (20 short pieces), piano (1944-74; pub. 1979) [early title: "Little Pieces for Little Fingers"]
    - The swing
    - The pony express
    - Duck duet
    - The bird says Bob White
    - Quiet time
    - Follow the leader
    - Skipping
    - The robin
    - Black and white
    - Circles
    - Two by two they came
    - Run, rabbit, run!
    - Strolling
    - Pitter-patter, pitter-patter
    - A heavy load
    - Whirling pin wheels
    - Jumping high
    - End of day
    - The clocks
    - Now I lay me down to sleep
Textures, piano (1977)
KaliedescopicVariations, piano (1984)
Ave atque vale, piano (1989)

Vocal
Death Be Not Proud, voice and piano (????)
When the Storm Breaks for Him,  voice and piano (????)
Song of the Songless, voice and piano (1928) [text: Meredith]
Five Sonnets from the Portuguese, voice and piano (1934) [text: Elizabeth Barrett Browning]
    - I thought once how Theocritus had sung... (Sonnet I)
    - The face of all the world is changed, I think... (Sonnet VII)
    - Say over again, and yet once over again... (Sonnet XXI)
    - When our two souls stand up erect and strong... (Sonnet XXII)
    - Yes, call me by my pet-name! let me hear... (Sonnet XXXIII)
Late Leaves, [voice and piano?] (1934) [text: Landor]
Never Seek to Tell Thy Love, voice and piano (1934) [text: William Blake]
A Child's Fancy, song cycle, [voice and piano?] (1935) [text: Edith Gould]
    - ???
    - more?

I Fear a Man of Scanty Speech, [voice and piano?] (1938) [text: Emily Dickinson]
One Need Not Be a Chamber to be Haunted, voice and piano (1941) [text: Dickinson] [pub. in "Seven Songs for Voice and Piano"]
Terre de France, song cycle (5 songs), soprano or tenor and piano (1943-45)
    - Mère, voici vos fils ... [text: C. Péguy]
    - Sonnet [text: J. Du Bellay]
    - Ballade [text: Charles d'Orléans]
    - Ode [text by P. de Ronsard]
    - Adiuex à la Meuse [text: C. Péguy]
Letter to St. Peter, soprano and piano (1945) [text: E. Dean]
Leap Before You Look, voice and piano (1945) [text: W. H. Auden] [pub. in "Seven Songs for Voice and Piano"]
Sonnet: I wake and feel the fell of dark, voice and piano (1946) [text: G. M. Hopkins] [pub. in "Seven Songs for Voice and Piano"]
Spring and Fall: To a Young Child, voice and piano (1946) [text: G. M. Hopkins] [pub. in "Seven Songs for Voice and Piano"]
Pied Beauty (Glory Be to God for Dappled Things), voice & pf (1946) [text: GM Hopkins] [in "Seven Songs for Voice and Piano"]
Sonnet: Not, I'll not, carrion comfort, voice and piano (1950) [text: G. M. Hopkins] [pub. in "Seven Songs for Voice and Piano"]
Christmas Carol, "Chorus Angelorum, Piccolassima Fughetta, Molto Tonale, Sopra un Téma,  Torentoni Niventis Wilderi",
        a fugal motet, 3 voices (1959) [written for Thornton Wilder]
Birthday Song, tenor, flute and viola (1960) [text: Edmund Spencer]
Cantata: All the Days of My Life, tenor, cl, vc, perc, pf and celesta (1963-65) [text: from the Bible; and an anonymous poet]
The Tolling Bell, triptych for baritone and orchestra (1967-69)
    - To be, or not to be [text: William Shakespeare]
    - Ah, Faustus [text: Christopher Marlowe]
    - This is my playes last scene [text: John Donne]
Rain Song, voice and piano (1973) [text: Jean Garrigue] [pub. in "Seven Songs for Voice and Piano"]
Have You Heard? Do You Know?, divertimento in 7 scenes, soprano, mezzo-soprano, tenor and chamber ensemble (1974-80)
Variations on Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird, tenor or sopr., ob (or fl/vln), pf (1938/1979)[txt: Stevens][?from choral wrk]
Diadem (7 songs), tenor or soprano, flute, clarinet, violin, cello and piano (1978-80) [text: Confucius and Medieval sources]
    - Jade
    - Aquamarine
    - Ruby
    - Topaz
    - Diamond
    - Sapphire
    - Emerald
Wishing Well, soprano and flute (1986) [text: Francisco Tanzes]
Infanta Marina, song cycle (9 songs), soprano and piano (1990) [text: W. Stevens]
    - Infanta Marina
    - The brave man
    - Domination of black
    - Ploughing on Sunday
    - Lunar paraphrase
    - Hibiscus on the sleeping shores
    - The load of sugar-cane
    - Re-statement of romance
    - The pleasures of merely circulating
The Lengthening Shadows, song cycle (9 songs planned; 4 completed), soprano & ensemble/cl, 2 vln, cello, pf (1993, unfinished)
    - [????] [text: Donne] [possibly: "Finis", 1992-93]
    - Sonnet (1991) [text: Keats]
    - Falling Leaves (1992)  [text: Walter Savage Landor]
    - Heaven-haven (1993) [text: Gerard Manley Hopkins]

Seven Songs for Voice and Piano (pub. 1986)
    - One Need Not Be a Chamber to be Haunted (1941) [text: Emily Dickinson]
    - Rain Song (1973) [text: Jean Garrigue]
    - Glory be to God for Dappled Things (Pied Beauty) (1949) [text: Gerard Manley Hopkins]
    - Spring and Fall: To a Young Child (1946) [text: Gerard Manley Hopkins]
    - Sonnet: I wake and feel the fell of dark (1946) [text: Gerard Manley Hopkins]
    - Sonnet: Not, I'll not, carrion comfort (1950) [text: Gerard Manley Hopkins]
    - Leap Before You Look (1945) [text: W. H. Auden]


TALMA  LINKS                                                            Works by Genre      ~ top of page ~
Composer  Louise  Talma - A Conversation with Bruce Duffie (bruceduffie.com)
The Extraordinary Life of a US Composer: Louise Talma (Woman's Hour, BBC Radio 4)
Guide to the Louise Talma Papers (Yale University Library)
Holy Sonnets: La Corona of Louise Talma (Laura McDonald Moore, UNCG/NC DOCKS)
Louise Talma, Neo-Classical Composer, 89 - Obituary (Allan Kozinn, The New York Times)
Louise Talma: "The Tolling Bell" (Elaine Barkin, JSTOR/Perspectives of New Music)
Louise Talma's Christmas Carol (Kendra Preston Leonard, Music Library Association Notes)
Pentatonic Structures in Louise Talma's First-Period Compositions (Luann Dragone, CUNY Graduate Center)
Sarah, Anna and Louise - What No Thelma? Discovering Louise Talma . . .  (Dorsey & Neal, Taylor and Francis Online)

Composer website (Louise Talma Society)    . . .   inquire about Louise Talma:  here

Talma @ Wikipedia
Talma @ Answers.com    also    here
Talma @ The Art of the Piano (David Dubal, Amadeus Pr, books.google.com)
Talma @ Classical Archives
Talma @ Classical Composers Database
Talma @ ClassicsToday
Talma @ Do The Math
Talma @ Da Capo Chamber Players
Talma @ DRAM Online
Talma @ Encyclopedia of World Biography (notablebiographies.com)
Talma @ enotes
Talma @ Facebook
Talma @ Hildegard Publishing Company
Talma @ Historical Anthology of Music By Women (James R. Briscoe, Indiana Univ Pr, books.google.com)
Talma @ InstantEncore
Talma @ The Library of Congress    also    here
Talma @ MacDowell Colony - photo
Talma @ Modern Classical
Talma @ MusicWeb International
Talma @ Naxos
Talma @ New Hampshire Public Television
Talma @ New World Records    also    here    and     here    and    here
Talma @ The New York Times
Talma @ The Norton/Grove Dictionary of Women Composers (Julie Anne Sadie, et al, books.google.com)
Talma @ REC Music Foundation /The Lied and Art Song Texts Page
Talma @ Song of America
Talma @ Thornton Wilder
Talma @ Women and Music (Karin Pendle, Indiana Univ Pr, books.google.com)
Talma @ Women of Note
Talma @ Yale University/Louise Talma Papers    also    here

Publisher
Talma @ Composer website
Talma @ Carl Fischer
Talma @ Henmar Press [sole distributor, C.F. Peters]
Talma @ Hildegard Publishing Company
Talma @ Hinshaw Music

Streaming Audio
Talma @ Composer website
Talma @ BBC Radio 4/Woman's Hour: The Extraordinary Life of a US Composer: Louise Talma
Talma @ Classical Archives
Talma @ last.fm
Talma @ Rhapsody.com

Recordings
Talma @ Composer website  -  at bottom of webpage
Talma @ Amazon.com
Talma @ ArkivMusic
Talma @ CD Universe
Talma @ ClassicsOnline
Talma @ Discogs
Talma @ DRAM Online

Video
Talma @ YouTube
Talma @ Google Video
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