Rita Strohl | |
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| Born | Aimée Marie Marguerite Mercédès Larousse La Villette (1865-07-08)8 July 1865 Lorient, France |
| Died | 27 March 1941(1941-03-27) (aged 75) La Gaude, France |
| Occupation(s) | Composer, Pianist |
Rita Strohl (bornAimée Marie Marguerite Mercédès Larousse La Villette) (8 July 1865 – 27 March 1941) was a French composer and pianist.
Born inLorient (Morbihan), Rita Strohl was a gifted student and entered the Paris Conservatory at the age of 13, where she studied piano and solfège. She studied composition and voice privately. She was also a member of theSociété des auteurs, compositeurs et éditeurs de musique.[1] In 1884, she started publishing her chamber music trios, and the following year herMesse pour six voix, orchestre, et orgue résonne.[2]
She is the author of several vocal, symphonic and chamber music pieces. She was endorsed byCamille Saint-Saëns,Vincent d’Indy andGabriel Fauré.Jane Bathori sang herChansons de Bilitis, andPablo Casals played her music.[3] Notably honoured[how?] byPierre Louÿs andHenri Duparc, her music has gained renewed interest in recent years.
Rita Strohl was the daughter of the painterÉlodie La Villette (1842–1917) and Jules La Rousse La Villette. She is also the niece of the painterCaroline Espinet.
In 1888, she married the sub lieutenant Émile Strohl (1863-1900) and took his name, giving birth to four children. After the death of Strohl, she married the master glassmakerRichard Burgsthal [fr] (pseudonym René Billa), a man almost 20 years her junior, in 1903.[4]
She created the short-lived La Grange Theatre inBièvres, Essonne in 1912 with her second husband and with the financial support ofOdilon Redon,Gustave Fayet and other subscribers. It closed at the beginning ofWorld War I. There, she performed lyrical works filled with mysticism and symbolism.
She divorced her second husband in 1930, and moved to Provence to live with her daughter and grandson.[2]
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