Rita Strohl

Composer Rita Strohl was fairly well known in her own time and was praised by several leading figures in French music. Some of her works were of a quite experimental character, and she composed in large genres such as symphony and opera, as well as chamber pieces and vocal works. Strohl wrote larger works at various points in her career. In 1898, she issued the cycle Chansons de Bilitis, setting texts by Pierre Louÿs. In 1908, Strohl and her second husband, with some support from the artist Odilon Redon, opened the La Grange theater in the small town of Bièvres north of Paris. The project ultimately failed, but Strohl wrote some of her most innovative works during this period, including the Hindu-themed song cycle Le Suprême Puruscha. Such major composers as d'Indy, Saint-Saëns, and Fauré admired her music. Strohl died on March 27, 1941, in La Gaude, France.