Ralf, Richard

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Ralf, Richard

Ralf, Richard , German composer; b. Karlsruhe, Sept. 30, 1897; d. Los Angeles, June 22, 1977. He studied piano as a child with his father, the choirmaster at the Karlsruhe Opera, and later attended the Scharwenka Cons. in Berlin, graduating in 1914. Drafted into the German army in World War I, he suffered severe shell shock at the French front; returning to Berlin, he studied composition with Hugo Kaun. In 1946 he emigrated to the U.S., eventually settling in Los Angeles. His music follows the florid and emotional trend of post-Wagnerian Romanticism. Among his compositions were Transcendental, ballet (1921), Violin Sonata (1923), String Quartet (1924), Violin Concerto (1925), Brothers Arise, cantata (1959), and Symphonic Songs for Mezzo-soprano and Orch. (1968).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire