Ruth Tripp

{{Short description|American composer, music critic, educator and pianist (1897–1971)}}

Ruth Erskine Tripp (December 26, 1897 – May 1971) was an American{{Cite book|last=Stern|first=Susan|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/3844725|title=Women composers : a handbook|date=1978|publisher=Scarecrow Press|isbn=0-8108-1138-3|location=Metuchen, N.J.|oclc=3844725}} composer,{{Cite book|last=Cohen|first=Aaron I.|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/16714846|title=International encyclopedia of women composers|date=1987|isbn=0-9617485-2-4|edition=Second edition, revised and enlarged|location=New York|oclc=16714846|archive-date=2021-12-25|access-date=2021-06-03|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211225121554/https://www.worldcat.org/title/international-encyclopedia-of-women-composers/oclc/16714846|url-status=live}}{{Cite book|last=Hixon|first=Donald L.|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/28889156|title=Women in music : an encyclopedic biobibliography|date=1993|publisher=Scarecrow Press|others=Don A. Hennessee|isbn=0-8108-2769-7|edition=2nd|location=Metuchen, N.J.|oclc=28889156|archive-date=2021-12-25|access-date=2021-06-03|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211225121559/https://www.worldcat.org/title/women-in-music-an-encyclopedic-biobibliography/oclc/28889156|url-status=live}} music critic,{{Cite journal|last=Livingston|first=Carolyn|date=1999|title=The History of Music and Music Education in Rhode Island: A Project for Graduate Students|url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/40214991|journal=Bulletin of Historical Research in Music Education|volume=20 #2|issue=2|pages=121–141|doi=10.1177/153660069902000204|jstor=40214991|s2cid=148990630|archive-date=2023-03-05|access-date=2021-06-03|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230305045410/https://www.jstor.org/stable/40214991|url-status=live|url-access=subscription}} educator,{{Cite book|last=Burns|first=Kristine Helen|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gQcKAQAAMAAJ&q=ruth+tripp+composer|title=Women and Music in America Since 1900: An Encyclopedia|date=2002|publisher=Greenwood Press|isbn=978-1-57356-309-3|language=en}} and pianist.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=D0w0AQAAMAAJ&q=ruth+tripp+composer|title=Musical America|date=1916|publisher=Music Publications, Limited|language=en}} She administered the Works Progress Administration's Federal Music Project (WPA FMP) in the state of Rhode Island from 1940 to 1943.{{Cite web|title=Rhode Island Historical Society|url=https://www.rihs.org/mssinv/Mss1102.htm|access-date=2021-06-03|website=www.rihs.org|archive-date=2003-04-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030412135009/http://www.rihs.org/mssinv/Mss1102.htm|url-status=live}}

Tripp was born in Dighton, Massachusetts, to Everett E. and Martha Erskine Tripp. She had three sisters: Martha, Elsie, and Gertrude.{{Cite web|title=Ruth E Tripp (1897–1971) – Find A Grave Memorial|url=https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/114843760/ruth-e-tripp|access-date=2021-06-03|website=www.findagrave.com|language=en|archive-date=2021-06-03|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210603191400/https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/114843760/ruth-e-tripp|url-status=live}} In 1903 the family moved to Central Falls, Rhode Island.

Tripp graduated from the New England Conservatory of Music and studied music in France at the Conservatorie Fountainbleu (probably one of the Fontainebleau Schools) in 1922.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BX0cAQAAMAAJ&q=ruth+erskine+tripp|title=The Luther Family in America: A Genealogy of the Descendants of Captain John Luther of the Massachusetts Bay Colony|date=1976|isbn=978-0-9601064-1-7|language=en}} Her teachers included May Atwood Anderson, Avis Bliven Charbonnel, and Ferdinand Motte-Lacroix.{{Cite book|last=Thrasher|first=Herbert Chandler|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ln2wAAAAIAAJ&q=ruth+erskine+tripp|title=250 Years of Music in Providence, Rhode Island, 1636–1886|date=1942|publisher=Rhode Island Federation of music clubs|language=en}}

Tripp taught music at the Gordon School, a private school in Providence, and later at the University of Rhode Island and Bryant College (today Bryant University). She was music critic{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hZYgAQAAMAAJ&q=ruth+tripp+composer|title=Showcase: Music Clubs Magazine|date=1961|publisher=National Federation of Music Clubs.|language=en}} for the Providence Journal-Bulletin for 27 years, and also worked as a church choir director and organist.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CFgJAQAAMAAJ|title=The Bulletin of Historical Research in Music Education|date=1998|publisher=Department of Art and Music Education and Music Therapy, University of Kansas|language=en}} She served as president of Rhode Island's Federation of Music Clubs,{{Cite book|last=on|first=Best Books|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jtpToXXsbioC&pg=PA173|title=Rhode Island, a Guide to the Smallest State|date=1937|publisher=Best Books on|isbn=978-1-62376-038-0|language=en|archive-date=2023-07-15|access-date=2023-07-15|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230715152612/https://books.google.com/books?id=jtpToXXsbioC&pg=PA173|url-status=live}} and received awards from the American Symphony Orchestra League (today the League of American Orchestras) and the Music Critics Association.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XS49AAAAMAAJ&q=ruth+tripp+composer|title=Musical Courier|date=1960|language=en}} Tripp also participated in Rhode Island's Chaminade Club.

Tripp's papers are archived at the Rhode Island Historical Society. She wrote a short story entitled The Jacknife. Her musical compositions{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t9EuAAAAIAAJ&q=ruth+tripp+composer|title=Directory of American Women Composers|date=1970|publisher=National Federation of Music Clubs.|language=en}} include:

;Chamber

• Bergerette (flute and strings){{Cite book|last1=Livingston|first1=Carolyn|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Y1v0AAAAMAAJ&q=ruth+tripp+composer|title=Rhode Island's Musical Heritage: An Exploration|last2=Smith|first2=Dawn Elizabeth|date=2008|publisher=Harmonie Park Press|isbn=978-0-89990-143-5|language=en}}

;Operetta

• Rabbit's Foot (lyrics by Grace Sherwood)
• Wedding of Miss Mary Krissmass and Mr. Sandy Claws (lyrics by Grace Sherwood)

;Vocal

• "Christmas Folk Song" (text by Lizette Woodworth Reese)
• "Earth Bread"
• In the Days of Herod the King (three women's voices; text Matthew 11:1–11)
• Land Grant: A Free Choral Adaptation of Portions of the Morrill Act of 1862 (M) Ostrich (text by Charles Malam)
• "Rivals" (text by James Stephens; written for the 1948 Gordon School commencement)
• "Rhode Island Campaign Song"
• Same Country (strings, harp, and choir; text Luke II: 8–14){{Cite book|last=Administration|first=United States Work Projects|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mPMiAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA48|title=List of American Orchestral Works Recommended by WPA Music Project Conductors|date=1941|publisher=Work projects administration, Federal works agency|language=en|archive-date=2023-07-15|access-date=2023-07-15|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230715152610/https://books.google.com/books?id=mPMiAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA48|url-status=live}}
• Songs of the Sea (with Grace Sherwood)
• "Solitary Place shall be Glad" (text Isaiah 35:1-2-10)