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
Mothsgården in 1970. A memorial plaque on the side of the building facing the village pond commemorates the Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg's composition of his Piano Concerto in A minor during a visit to Mothsgården in the summer of 1968 ("Her i Mothsgaarden / komponerede / Edvard Grieg / i sommeren 1868 / koncerten for klaver / og orkester / Søllerød Kommune satte dette minde 1968"). Grieg often visited Denmark, where he had lived from 1863 to 1866 and where his mother had family (Hagerup). In 1867, he married his Danish cousin Nina Hagerup in Copenhagen. In 1868, the couple returned