Richard Aaker Trythall Richard Aaker Trythall Richard Aaker Trythall (born July 25, 1939) is an American and Italian composer and pianist of contemporary classical music. Trythall was born on July 25, 1939 in Knoxville, Tennessee, the younger brother of composer Gilbert Harry Trythall. His family, related to composer Edvard Grieg, has Welsh and Norwegian ancestry, and moved to the United States from Norway. He attended Central High School in Knoxville and in 1958 he enrolled at the University of Tennessee, where he studied under David Van Vactor graduating with a Bachelor of Music in 1961. His interest in composition was fostered by Van
Haugtussa (Grieg) character’s personal story and the mystic spring-like landscape that surrounds her, which may even motivate it. Edvard Grieg read Arne Garborg's "Haugtussa" in May 1895, and was so inspired that he composed twelve songs in a month, four of which he rejected. He then spent three years completing the project. He first conceived it as a larger work with orchestra, but in 1898 decided to set just a cycle of eight songs for voice and piano, and gave them a final polish before they were printed in September that year. Grieg wanted "Haugtussa" to reflect Garborg's poems, but by using