Claibe Richardson

Claibe Richardson, born Claiborne Foster Richardson on November 10, 1929, in Shreveport, Louisiana, was an American composer whose work spanned Broadway, television, radio, and the concert hall. He died on January 5, 2003, in New York City.

Richardson studied at Louisiana State University before launching his songwriting career in New York in the early 1950s, contributing material to revues produced by Ben Bagley and Julius Monk. In 1964, he composed The Brightest Show on Earth for the World's Fair held at what is now Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in Queens.

His most prominent Broadway achievement was the score for The Grass Harp, a 1971 musical adaptation of Truman Capote's novel, written in collaboration with lyricist and librettist Kenward Elmslie. Though the production closed within a week of opening night, it subsequently attracted a devoted following among musical theatre enthusiasts. Richardson went on to contribute incidental music to several other Broadway productions: the 1978 revival of The Royal Family, which starred Rosemary Harris and Eva Le Gallienne; the 1980 revival of The Philadelphia Story, featuring Blythe Danner; and the 1982 original play The Curse of an Aching Heart, which starred Faye Dunaway.

Beyond Broadway, Richardson composed scores for a number of productions that received recordings, off-Broadway runs, and regional stagings. These included Lola, again with Elmslie; Bodoni County and Congo Square, both with books and lyrics by Frank Gagliano; and The Night of the Hunter and Grossinger's, with books and lyrics by Stephen Cole. He also composed jingles for television and radio commercials and wrote scores for industrial shows and sponsored films.

Three months before his death, a suite Richardson based on The Grass Harp received a performance by Skitch Henderson and the New York Pops Orchestra at Carnegie Hall.