Toccata for Orchestra

Shortly After the death of her mother in 1942, Talma found herself for the first time at MacDowell Colony, where she immersed herself in composing. She wrote her Piano Sonata No. 1 in 1943 and then turned to a major work, the Toccata for Orchestra. The latter won her the Juilliard Publication Prize in 1946 and almost certainly contributed to Talma being awarded back-to-back Guggenheim awards, a first for a woman composer.