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Theodora Cormontan (9 June 184026 October 1922) was a Norwegian American pianist, music publisher and composer, one of the first Norwegian women to have her classical compositions published and widely performed, and the first woman to start a music publishing business in Norway. Cormontan began her musical education with the town musician in Arendal, where her father served as a Lutheran pastor. She moved to Copenhagen in 1863 to continue her education and pursue a musical career. Her time there was cut short by the death of her mother in 1865, prompting her return to Arendal to run the household of her father. In the period 1865–1879 she continued her career in Arendal, giving both vocal and piano concerts, composing works for the piano and voice (a number of which were published by Warmuth, the leading music publisher in the region), and establishing a music lending library. In 1879 she opened a music publishing house, focusing on the works of women composers. In 1886, as a result of a major bank failure and a fire that destroyed the family home, Cormontan was forced to sell her music business and emigrate with her father and sister to the United States, where she continued her musical career. In 1887, shortly after her arrival in Sacred Heart, Minnesota, a train accident impaired Cormontan's mobility and her ability to stand, forcing her to give up voice recitals. She focused instead on piano and organ performances as well as giving music lessons, leading choirs, and continuing her composition work, living first with a married sister in Sacred Heart, then with two brothers in Franklin, Minnesota. The family's economic fortunes slowly declined after 1900. In 1910, at age 70, Theodora Cormontan was the youngest of four surviving unmarried siblings and was the main wage earner in the household. After the deaths of her brothers, Cormontan and her sister entered a home for elderly Norwegian immigrants in Decorah, Iowa in 1917. After her death in 1922, her compositions largely disappeared from view until 2011, when boxes containing her musical legacy were discovered in St. Peter, Minnesota, and recordings of her work were released in Norway, Denmark, and the US. ==Early life== Theodora Nicoline Meldal Cormontan was born June 9, 1840 in Beitstad in North Trøndelag, Norway, the second youngest of seven children of Lutheran minister Even Meldal Schjelderup Cormontan and Louise Augusta Hirsch Cormontan. In 1847 her family moved to Arendal, where her father was appointed to the Trinity Church. She studied music there with F. W. Thoschlag, the town organist and proprietor of a music lending library. In 1863 she moved to Copenhagen to study music. The death of her mother in 1865 forced her return to Arendal to run the household of her father, who had taken on additional church duties as ''provst'' (in English, ''dean''), a senior official in the diocese.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Theodora Cormontan」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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