Margaret Astrup Sings Ruth Schonthal

Ruth Schonthal's compositions, which reflect the concerns of today's world, display a unique blend of deeply-rooted European traditions, depth of feeling and masterful blending of traditional and contemporary techniques. Born in Hamburg of Viennese parents, she began composing at five. She was the youngest student ever accepted at the Stern Conservatory in Berlin but, being Jewish, she was later banished. Her family fled the Nazi regime by settling in Stockholm, where her exceptional talent was recognized, leading to her being accepted at the Royal Academy of Music. Again, on the run, the family settled in Mexico City, where Schonthal studied with the famed Manuel Ponce. She eventually continued her studies at Yale under Paul Hindemith. Through the exposure to diverse influences and methods in her travels, Ruth Schonthal was able to extrapolate an unusually rich mixture of compositional techniques. She never followed "current" trends, instead finding her own unique voice. In these songs, composed both early and late in her career, one can sense the emotional qualities she considered foremost in her music. She once said that she envisioned her work as a mirror held up to a world full of complex human emotions. In short, these are works that reveal the innermost soul of a complex and fascinating composer.