Martha Alter
{{short description|American classical composer}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Martha Alter
| image =
| birth_date = February 8, 1904
| birth_place = New Bloomfield, Pennsylvania
| death_date = {{death date and age|1976|06|03|1904|02|08}}
| death_place = Newport, Pennsylvania
| parents = David Boyd and Daisy Myrl Alter
| occupation = Concert pianist and educator
| notable_works =
}}
Martha Alter (8 February 1904 – 3 June 1976) was an American pianist, music teacher and composer.
Life and career
Martha Alter was born in New Bloomfield, Pennsylvania, to parents David Boyd and Daisy Myrl Alter. She graduated from Vassar College in 1925. Alter continued her studies, receiving a master's in musicology from Columbia University and a master's of music composition from Eastman School of Music,{{citation|url=http://184.168.105.185/archivegrid/collection/data/41044954|title=Martha Alter papers, 1923-1942|accessdate=17 May 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140518055757/http://184.168.105.185/archivegrid/collection/data/41044954|archive-date=18 May 2014|url-status=dead}} studying with Ernest Hutcheson, Rubin Goldmark, Howard Hanson and Bernard Rogers.{{citation |url=http://oxfordindex.oup.com/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.50768|title=Alter, Martha (1904 - 1976), composer, pianist, teacher|author=Ahlquist, Karen|year=2001 |publisher=Grove Music Online|doi=10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.50768 |accessdate=17 May 2014|url-access=subscription}}
She taught at Vassar College from 1929-1931{{cite book |title=Who is who in music|first1=Alfred Victor|last1=Frankenstein|first2=Sigmund Gottfried|last2=Spaeth|first3=John Townsend Hinton|last3=Mize|date=1951}} and took a position teaching music at Connecticut College in 1942.{{citation |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1915&dat=19760608&id=oe0gAAAAIBAJ&pg=1273,1258463|title=Martha Alter, Conn College Professor, dies|accessdate=17 May 2014}} She died in Newport, Pennsylvania, and her papers are housed at the Vassar College Libraries.{{cite web |url=http://musiclibrary.vassar.edu/history.html|title=History|accessdate=5 October 2010}}
Works
Selected compositions include:
- O Bethlehem
- Peace
- Bill George, march and song for baritone and orchestra, poem by Malcolm Cowley
- Anthony Cotnstock or A Puritan's Progress, ballet
- Groceries and Notions, drama with Gertrude Brown, book by K.K. Doughtie
References
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Category:20th-century American classical composers