Angela Diller (August 1, 1877 – May 1, 1968) was a pianist and music educator.

Early life and education

Mary Angela Diller was born on August 1, 1877, to William Augustus Muhlenberg Diller and Mary Abigail Welles. She was the youngest of four children. Diller taught herself how to play the piano at an early age. Her older sister Ellen taught her how to read sheet music. As a teenager, she received lessons from Alice Fowler between 1892 and 1895.

Career

In 1899, she founded the Diller-Quaile Institute with Elizabeth Quaile. Diller and Quaile wanted books for the teachers at the school and wrote the Diller-Quaile Series. In 1932 and 1937 respectively, she wrote ''The Story of

Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, essayist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most o ...

Lohengrin Lohengrin () is a character in German Arthurian literature. The son of Parzival (Percival), he is a knight of the Holy Grail sent in a boat pulled by swans to rescue a maiden who can never ask his identity. His story, which first appears in Wo ...

'', and ''The Story of

Verdi Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi ( ; ; 9 or 10 October 1813 – 27 January 1901) was an Italian composer best known for his operas. He was born near Busseto, a small town in the province of Parma, to a family of moderate means, recei ...

Aïda ''Aida'' (or ''Aïda'', ) is a tragic opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Antonio Ghislanzoni. Set in the Old Kingdom of Egypt, it was commissioned by Cairo's Khedivial Opera House and had its première there on 24 De ...

''. Both books, published by G. Schirmer, contained musical excerpts with printed music. In 1941 Diller retired from managing the school.

Personal life

Diller was raised an

Episcopalian Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protes ...

and was influenced by

New Thought The New Thought movement (also Higher Thought) is a new religious movement that coalesced in the United States in the early 19th century. New Thought was seen by its adherents as succeeding "ancient thought", accumulated wisdom and philosophy ...

. She never married and was childless.

Death

Near the end of her life, she lived in the Courtland Gardens Health Center in Stamford,

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

. Her funeral was held by her nieces and nephews.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Diller, Angela 1877 births category:1968 deaths American women pianists American women music educators