Riegger, Wallingford

Composed for piano 4-hands, 1932. Transcribed 1938.--Cf. Fleisher Collection.

From the description of Dance suite : I Evocation / Wallingford Riegger. [19--] (Franklin & Marshall College). WorldCat record id: 53784085

Commissioned by the Alice M. Ditson Fund. Composed 1947. First performance New York, 16 May 1948, CBS Symphony, Dean Dixon conductor. Received the New York Music Critics' Circle Award for the 1947-48 season and the Walter W. Naumburg Recording Award.--Cf. Fleisher Collection.

From the description of Symphony no. 3 / Wallingford Riegger. [19--] (Franklin & Marshall College). WorldCat record id: 53784954

Composed 1925. First performance New York, 29 October 1931, New York Philharmonic, Erich Kleiber conductor.--Cf. Fleisher Collection.

From the description of Rhapsody for orchestra / Wallingford Riegger. [19--] (Franklin & Marshall College). WorldCat record id: 53784131

Commissioned by Hanya Holm, 1935. Composed for piano 4-hands, 1935. Transcribed 1935.--Cf. Fleisher Collection.

From the description of Dance suite : II. The cry / Wallingford Riegger. [19--] (Franklin & Marshall College). WorldCat record id: 53784076

American composer Wallingford Riegger's works combined an advanced harmonic and rhythmic idiom with traditional structures.

From the description of Papers, 1905-1982. (New York Public Library). WorldCat record id: 122517496

Composed 1934 for piano 4-hands, as the finale of a larger work, New Dance, commissioned by Doris Humphrey. This version 1940. First performance Pittsburgh, 30 January 1942, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Fritz Reiner conductor.--Cf. Fleisher Collection.

From the description of Dance suite : III New dance (Finale) / Wallingford Riegger. [19--] (Franklin & Marshall College). WorldCat record id: 53784113

Wallingford Riegger was born in April 29, 1885 in Albany, Georgia and died in New York City on April 2, 1961. He spent his childhood in Indianapolis, and the family moved to New York in 1899. The Rieggers were all musically oriented, and Wallingford was persuaded to change from violin to cello in order to create a family string quartet. In 1904 Riegger went to Cornell University on scholarship, were he remained for only one year while he persuaded his family to allow his enrollment at the Institute of Musical Art (which later merged to form Juilliard). He graduated from the Institute in 1907 having studied composition under Percy Goetschius and cello with Alwin Schroeder of the Kneisel Quartet.

Wallingford Riegger then went to Germany for three years' further study at the Berlin Hochschule für Musik, and had his conducting debut with the Blüthner Orchestra. Riegger married Rose Schramm in 1911 and became the principal cellist with the St. Paul Orchestra, but returned to Germany in 1914 to become assistant conductor and voice coach at the Städttheatre at Würzburg. He conducted the Blüthner Orchestra during the 1916-1917 season before returning to the United States due to the entrance of the U.S. into World War I.

Due to the scarcity of conducting positions in America, Riegger turned to teaching after his return, working as an instructor at Drake University, the Institute for Musical Art, and Ithaca Conservatory. His attention turned more and more to composing, and in 1922 Riegger won the Paderewski Prize for “Piano Trio in D Minor”. He also received the Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge prize for his musical setting of “La Belle Dame Sans Merci”, the first American to win this award. In 1925 the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music conferred an honorary doctorate of music on Wallingford Riegger.

In 1928 Riegger returned to New York City, and began to solidify his reputation as one of the most articulate exponents of avant-garde modernism, reflected in such works as “Study in Sonority” and “Dichotomy”. Martha Graham commissioned a work in 1930, and Riegger also composed for Doris Humphrey and Hanya Holmes. Wallingford Riegger was also heavily involved in the work of new music organizations such as the Pan American Association of Composers and Henry Cowell's New Music Quarterly. Throughout the 1930s Riegger was primarily involved with the dance world, but in the 1940s his focus moved toward absolute music. His Third Symphony received the New York City Critics' Circle award for the 1947-48 season and a Naumberg Recording Award, leading to wider recognition.

Riegger continued composing throughout the 1950s and early 60s, frequently working on specifically commissioned pieces. Not employed by a specific institution, Riegger supported himself and his family through composition, editorial work, and doing arrangements under a variety of pseudonyms. His reputation continued to grow, and performances of his pieces, extremely rare (excepting dance compositions) during his early career, became more common. Nicknamed “the Dean of American Composers”, Wallingford Riegger received a long series of honors and awards toward the end of his life, such as large honorary 70th and 75th birthday celebrations. In 1961 Wallingford Riegger died from head injuries occasioned by a chance street accident in Manhattan.

From the guide to the Wallingford Riegger papers, 1905-1982, (The New York Public Library. Music Division.)