Mildred Cooper Couper (1887-1974)
Musician and Composer
Mildred Couper, prominent American
composer and pianist, was one of the first musicians to experiment
with Quarter-Tone Music. She
was based in Santa Barbara, California, but her music and influence
were felt around the world. Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina;
educated in Italy, France and Germany; married to American
expatriate artist Richard Hamilton
Couper; she spent her early married life in Rome, Italy. At the
outbreak of World War One she and her family fled to New York City.
Here she taught piano for nine years at the David Mannes Music
School. She came to California in 1927. Establishing a studio in
Santa Barbara she started her quarter-tone experiments, the first
work in this medium being a ballet, "Xanadu," which was performed in
the production of Eugene O'Neill's "Marco Millions" in the Lobero
Theatre. Besides quarter-tone works, Mildred Couper has written
incidental music for plays at the Lobero, and also a Dance-Opera
"And on Earth Peace", to words by Scottish-Argentine artist Malcolm
Thurburn.
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