Richard Hundley

Richard Albert Hundley (September 1, 1931 – February 25, 2018) was an American pianist and composer of art songs for voice and piano.

Early life Hundley was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, to a family of lesser means. At the age of seven, he was sent to live with his paternal grandmother, Anna Susan Campbell, at her home in Covington, Kentucky. Campbell, a lover of music, owned a lovely, large piano that immediately caught Hundley's attention. After no time at all, she came to realize that Hundley was a naturally gifted musician with a great interest in the piano, so she enrolled him in lessons with a local piano teacher by the name of Mrs. Wyman. Hundley's grandmother would come to be one of the largest influences on his life, as she encouraged his musical pursuits and provided financial support for his education.

Hundley joined Milanov's studio in 1967, and his collaboration with this highly esteemed soprano and her students heavily impacted his compositional style.

Of all the pieces Hundley penned, his most well-known work is "Come Ready and See Me."

Compositions

For solo voice "Spring" (1952) Softly the Summer (1957) Epitaph on a Wife (1957) "The Astronomers" (1959) "Maiden Snow" (1960) Isaac Greentree (An Epitaph) (1960) Wild Plum (1961) Ballad on Queen Anne's Death (1962) Spring (1962) For Your Delight (1962) I am not lonely (1963) Daffodils (1963) My Master Hath a Garden (1963) Postcard from Spain (1963) "A Package of Cookies" (1963) Some Sheep are Loving (1964) "Awake the Sleeping Sun" (1965) Screw Spring (1968) "Heart, We Will Forget Him" (1970) "Letter from Emily" (1970) "Will There Really Be a Morning?" (1970) "When Children are Playing Alone on the Green" (1970) Come Ready and See Me (1971) Lions (1971) Birds, U.S.A. (1972) I Do (1974) Evening Hours (1975) Bartholomew Green (1978) Sweet Suffolk Owl (1979) When Orpheus Played (1979) Arise My Love (1981) The Girls of Golden Summers (1982) Waterbird (1988) Straightway beauty on me waits (1989) Strings in the Earth and Air (1989) "Fine Manners" (1989) Awake the Sleeping Sun (1991) The Elephant is Slow to Mate (1992) "Moonlight's Watermelon" (1993) White Fields (1995) Whales of California (1996) O My Darling Troubles Heaven With Her Loveliness (1998)

Pieces from song collection "Octaves and Sweet Sounds" "Seashore Girls" (1990) "Straightway Beauty on Me Waits" (1990) "Strings in the Earth and Air" (1990) "Well Welcome" (1990)

John Fletcher Poems Set to Music Between 1964 and 1966 "Weep no More" "Tell Me Dearest" "What is Love?" "Sweet River" God of the Sheep" "Green Woods are Dumb" "Care Charming Sheep"

Duet(s) Just Why Johnnie Was Jimmie (1964)

Quartet(s) "Vocal Quartets to Poems by James Purdy" (1971)

Discography Under the bluest sky...Songs of Richard Hundley David Parks (tenor) Read Gainsford (piano) The Astronomers, with Frederica von Stade (mezzo-soprano) and Martin Katz (piano), CBS, 1982 Come Ready And See Me, with Frederica von Stade (mezzo-soprano) and Martin Katz (piano), CBS, 1982