# Margaret Purcell

Margaret Purcell (18 August 1914 – Fall 1991) née Dudley, was an American composer. Purcell's father was the journalist Pendleton Dudley and her mother the motorist Hermine Dudley. Purcell's sister was the dancer, choreographer, and teacher Jane Dudley.

## Education

Margaret Purcell studied piano with pianist and composer Katherine Heyman between 1927 and 1928, who was a proponent of the music of Alexander Scriabin. She also later studied composition with the English composer Richard Arnell, who also taught at Trinity College of Music. Letters exist between Arnell and Purcell from the 1950s, in which he offers her advice on aspects of music.

## Personal life

Her father Pendleton Dudley was a journalist and worked in public relations, and her mother Hermine Dudley was the first women motorist to drive across the United States. Hermine took her daughter Margaret on a trip abroad in 1938, taking several weeks to explore the fjords and roads of Norway and Sweden. Margaret's later marriage to Richard Purcell was short, due to an accident. During her lifetime she lived in New York, Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, and Charleston, South Carolina, where she died.

## Career

The archive of Purcell's unpublished works resides in London at the Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance. Her compositional output ranges from solo piano and songs, to chamber and orchestral works.
Purcell's orchestral work Chalumeau was premiered at the Town Hall in New York City, 113 West 43rd Street, on 25 January 1947, with Harold Kohon conducting the American Chamber Music Ensemble. This concert also included works by Vincent d'Indy and Richard Arnell. Another concert featuring Purcell's music including her Nine Piano Pieces dedicated to Arnell, Two Songs (Monastery Evening and The Call), and an Impromptu for Piano, occurred in London 7 March 2001 performed by Julia Richter. This event also featured choreography by her sister Jane Dudley, and took place at Studios 1 and 2, The Place.
Purcell's setting of text demonstrates a wide interest in authors including Rabindranath Tagore, Langston Hughes, Walter De La Mare, Otomo no Yakamochi and the Hindu mystic Lalla.

## Selected works

Orchestral :
| Overture: Bergen Harbour | Full orchestra | 1944. "To Jule Eisenbud" |
| Chalumeau | String Orchestra | 1945 |
| Chamber |||
| Clarinet Quartet | Clarinet and strings | 1st movement missing. 2nd & 3rd movements complete. |
| Pied Piper | Flute, Clarinet and Bassoon | |
| Vocal |||
| All my Love | Contralto and Piano | 1961 (Anonymous Scottish poem) |
| Autumn | Contralto and Piano | 1957 (Oe no Chisato) |
| Beloved I | Contralto and Piano | 1961 (Poem from Selections of Vivekananda) |
| Beloved II | Contralto and Piano | 1961 |
| Cancionero I | Contralto and Piano | 1960 (Poem from the Spanish middle-ages) |
| Cancionero II | Contralto and Piano | 1960 |
| Cancionero V | Contralto and Piano | 1961 |
| Carol I | Contralto and Piano | 1961 |
| Carol II | Contralto and Piano | 1961 |
| Carol III "Northern Wind" | Contralto and Piano | 1961 |
| Come Back. Cancionero VI | Contralto and Piano | 1961 (Poem by Rabindranath Tagore) |
| Days and Moments | Contralto and Piano | 1960 (Walter de la Mare) |
| Dive Deep | Contralto and Piano | 1961 (Poem from Gospel of Ramakrishna) |
| Four Songs for Contralto I Wait My Lord No Regret Lament Song for Little Snook | Contralto and Piano | 1956 – 1957 Chinese poem, 500BC. Langston Hughes. 13th Arabian poem. Song missing. |
| Greek Lullaby | Contralto and Piano | 1959 |
| Hymn | Contralto and Piano | 1960 (Gospel of Ramakrishna) |
| Love | Contralto and Piano | 1960 (Anonymous English poem, 1605) |
| Love II | Contralto and Piano | 1961 |
| Love Song | Contralto and Piano | 1960 (18th century poem) |
| Lullaby for Bunny-love I | Contralto and Piano | 1955 |
| Lullaby for Bunny-love II | Contralto and Piano | 1959 (Shakespeare) |
| Lullaby I | Contralto and Piano | 1961 |
| Lullaby II | Contralto and Piano | 1961 |
| Lullaby III | Contralto and Piano | 1961 |
| Mist | Contralto and Piano | 1957 (Otomo no Yakamochi) |
| Mozarabic | Voice and Piano | |
| Not I but thou | Contralto and Piano | |
| Poem I | Contralto and Piano | 1961 (Poem by Rabindranath Tagore) |
| Poem II | Contralto and Piano | 1959 (Hindu mystic, Lalla) |
| Psalm 55 | Contralto and Piano | 1960 |
| Self of my self | Contralto and Piano | 1960 (Hindu mystic, Lalla) |
| Sky | Contralto and Piano | 1960 (Fujiwara no Tadahira) |
| Song | Contralto and Piano | 1960 (Anonymous 15th century poem) |
| Song & Poem I | Contralto and Piano | 1960 |
| Song & Poem I | Contralto and Piano | 1960 |
| Song and Poem I | Contralto and Piano | 1961 |
| Song, Variation on B | Contralto and Piano | 1961 |
| South Shore | Voice and piano | |
| Stary Sky | Contralto and Piano | 1960 (9th century Irish poem) |
| The Gentle Now | Contralto and Piano | 1964 |
| The Reed of Pan | Contralto and Piano | 1959 (12th century poem) |
| The Risen Sun | Contralto and Piano | 1960 (Walter de la Mare) |
| Three Songs for Tenor I travelled with them Poem The Plum Tree | Tenor and Piano | 1957 Al-Mu'yamid ibn Abbad. Saigyo Hoshi. Fujiwara no letaka. |
| Tomorrow shall be my dancing day | Contralto and Piano | 1959 (Anonymous 15th century Enslish poem) |
| True Love | Contralto and Piano | 1959 (Anonymous 13th Century English poem) |
| Turtle Dove | Contralto and Piano | 1959 (Ancient Spanish Ballad) |
| Two Songs for Tenor Plaineth Twilight | Tenor and Piano | 1951 Anonymous. William Sydney Walker. |
| Two Songs: Monastery Evening The Call | | 1949 "Dedicated to Richard Murdock" |
| Western Wind | Contralto and Piano | 1958 (Anonymous 15th century English poem) |
| Why Tarry | Voice and Piano | 1961 |
| Winter Evening | Contralto and Piano | 1960 (Walter de la Mare) |
| Solo Instrument |||
| Fantasy I "Bells" | Piano | 1958 |
| Fantasy II | Piano | |
| Fantasy III | Piano | 1964 |
| Fantasy IV | Piano | 1964 |
| Fantasy V | Piano | 1963 |
| Impromptu | Piano | 1948 |
| Nine Piano Preludes | Piano | "Dedicated to Richard Arnell" |
| Prelude I | Piano | 1958 |
| Prelude II | Piano | |
| Prelude III | Piano | 1958 |
| Rondeaux | Piano | |
| Song | Accordion | |
| Song | Piano | 1964 "To Dad, with all my love from Margie" |
| Toccata I | Piano | 1958 |
| Toccata II | Piano | 1958 |