Rita Strohl

Rita Strohl (born Aimée Marie Marguerite Mercédès Larousse La Villette) (8 July 1865 – 27 March 1941) was a French composer and pianist. Early life Strohl was the daughter of the painter Élodie La Villette (1842–1917) and Jules La Rousse La Villette. She is also the niece of the painter Caroline Espinet. Musical career Born in Lorient, Morbihan, Strohl was a gifted student and entered the Paris Conservatory at the age of 13, where she studied piano and solfège. She studied composition and voice privately. She was also a member of the Société des auteurs, compositeurs et éditeurs de musique. In 1884, she started publishing her chamber music trios, and the following year her Messe pour six voix, orchestre, et orgue résonne. Notably honoured by Pierre Louÿs and Henri Duparc, her music has gained renewed interest in recent years. She created the short-lived La Grange Theatre in Bièvres, Essonne in 1912 with her second husband and with the financial support of Odilon Redon, Gustave Fayet and others, performing lyrical works filled with mysticism and symbolism. It closed at the beginning of World War I. Personal life In 1888, she married the sub lieutenant Émile Strohl (1863-1900), givin