Composer
Virgil Thomson
American composer and critic (1896–1989)
1896–1989
162 works and musical collections
- Born
- 1896
- Died
- 1989
- Birthplace
- Kansas City
- Place of death
- New York City
- Citizenship / historical state
- United States
- Period (estimated from birth year)
- Modern
Biography
Virgil Thomson (November 25, 1896 – September 30, 1989) was an American composer and critic. He was instrumental in the development of the "American Sound" in classical music. He has been described as a modernist, a neoromantic, a neoclassicist, and a composer of "an Olympian blend of humanity and detachment" whose "expressive voice was always carefully muted" until his late opera Lord Byron which, in contrast to all his previous work, exhibited an emotional content that rises to "moments of real passion".
Biography excerpt from Wikipedia contributors, available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Formatting and reference markers have been removed; the introduction may be shortened. View contributors and article history.
Life and musical career
- Occupations
- conductor; composer; music critic; film score composer; journalist
- Education
- Harvard University
- Teachers
- Nadia Boulanger
- Career institutions / employers
- Federal Theatre Project
- Recorded memberships
- American Academy of Arts and Letters; American Academy of Arts and Sciences
- Instruments played
- organ
- Notable works
- Lord Byron
- Awards
- Guggenheim Fellowship; National Medal of Arts; Pulitzer Prize for Music; Kennedy Center Honors; National Book Critics Circle Award in Criticism
- Languages used
- English
- VIAF ID
- 79167878
- ISNI
- 0000000109192182
- GND ID
- 118802097
- Library of Congress ID
- n50012238
- MusicBrainz ID
- 0b0e4a44-b090-4f78-8db9-376dc32f407f
Recorded in Wikidata. Affiliations may refer to earlier stages of the composer's career.
In this catalogue
- Common listed instruments
- Piano, Voice, violin, Alto, bass
- Genres represented
- Classical
- Source entries with composition dates
- 0
These details describe the indexed sheet music, including arrangements.
Catalogue
Sheet music catalogue page 4 of 4
Instruments describe listed editions, including arrangements. Composition dates and keys appear where recorded; collection pages show their individual contents.
Biographical record: Wikidata, matched on name and checked against dates held in the catalogue. The period label is an estimate from birth year. Authority record: VIAF 79167878. Portrait: Carl Van Vechten / Adam Cuerden, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.