Estelle Ricketts
Estelle Ricketts (1871–?) was an American composer.
Personal life
[edit]Ricketts lived in Darby, Pennsylvania, which is now a suburb of Philadelphia.[1] She lived with her mother, her younger brother, and her father, who operated a boarding stable.[1] She was the only one in her family who could read and write.[1]
Career
[edit]Estelle Ricketts's 1893 parlor piano piece Rippling Spring Waltz is the earliest known piano solo written by a black woman.[1] Rickets is mentioned in a book entitled "The Work of the Afro-American Woman" written by Gertrude Bustill Mossell. This book highlights the achievements of African-American women in all different disciplines, and was published in 1908.[2]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/80/Rippling_Spring_Waltz_Frontispiece.png/220px-Rippling_Spring_Waltz_Frontispiece.png)
Notes
[edit]References
[edit]- Walker-Hill, Helen. "Music by Black Women Composers at the American Music Research Center." American Music Research Center Journal. 2.1 (1992): 23-52.
- Mossell, N. F. "The Work of the Afro-American Woman." Philadelphia: Geo. S. Ferguson Company, 1908.
External links
[edit]- Rippling Spring Waltz is included in the Anthology Loud and Clear: A Guide to Levelled Piano Music by Women Composers in the 20th and 21st Centuries https://debrawanlessmusic.com/en-us/products/loud-and-clear?_pos=1&_sid=f0f0268d5&_ss=r