Britain, Radie
Britain, Radie
Britain, Radie, American composer and teacher; b. Silverton, Tex., March 17, 1899; d. Palm Springs, Calif., May 23, 1994. After studying piano at the American Cons, in Chicago (B.M., 1924), she studied theory and composition with Noelte in Munich and organ with Dupré in Paris (1924–26); then continued her studies with Noelte in Chicago, and also had instruction in piano from Godowsky and organ from Yon. She taught harmony and composition at Chicago’s Girvin Inst. of Music (1930–34); after teaching at the Chicago Cons. (1934–39), she taught piano and composition in Hollywood (1940–60). She publ, the book Composer’s Corner (1978). Her autobiography appeared posthumously as Ridin’ Herd to Writing Symphonies (Lanham, Md., 1996). Most of her compositions followed along traditional lines, inspired by various American subjects.
Works
DRAMATIC: Ubiquity, musical drama (1937); Happyland, children’s operetta (1946); Carillon, opera (1952); The Spider and the Butterfly, children’s operetta (1953); Kuthara, chamber opera (1960; Santa Barbara, June 24, 1961); The Dark Lady Within, drama with music (1962); Western Temperament, drama with music (telecast, Omaha, June 2, 1963); 4 ballets. orch.:Prelude to a Drama (1928; Chicago, Jan. 31, 1937); Symphonic Intermezzo (Chicago, Jan. 8, 1928); Heroic Poem (1929; Rochester, N.Y., March 3, 1932); Rhapsodic Phantasie for Piano and Orch. (1933; Chicago, April 24, 1938); Nocturn for Small Orch. (1934; Chicago, Nov. 10, 1940); Light (1935; Chicago, Nov. 29, 1938); Southern Symphony (1935; Chicago, March 4, 1940); Ontonangon Sketches (1939); Saturnale (1939); Suite for Strings (1940; Rochester, N.Y., Oct. 23, 1945); Phantasy for Oboe and Orch. (1942; Amarillo, Tex., April 22, 1958); We Believe (1942; Madrid, March 19, 1961); Serenata Sorrentina for Small Orch. (1946; Amarillo, Tex., April 8, 1947); Cactus Rhapsody (1953; Washington, D.C., April 4, 1960); Cowboy Rhapsody (Amarillo, Tex., April 11, 1956); Cosmic Mist Symphony (1962; Houston, April 18, 1967); Pyramids of Giza (1973; N.Y., Feb. 20, 1976); Anwar Sadat (In Memory) (1982); Earth of God for Strings (1984); Sam Houston (1987); Texas (1987). chamber:Epic Poem for String Quartet (1927); String Quartet (1934; Chicago, Nov. 3, 1940); Chipmunks for Woodwind, Harp, and Percussion (1940); Phantasy for Oboe and Piano (1942; also for Oboe, Harp, and Piano); Serenade for Violin and Piano (1944); Barcarola for Violin and Piano (1948; also for Voice and 8 Cellos, 1958); In the Beginning for 4 Horns (1962); Hebraic Poem for String Quartet (1976); Ode to NASA for Brass Quintet (1981); Soul of the Sea for Cello and Piano (1984); many piano pieces, including a Sonata (1958). vocal: Choral works, songs cycles, and solo songs.
Bibliography
W. and N. Bailey, R. B.: A Bio-Bibliography (N.Y., 1990).
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire