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Virgil Thomson

American composer and critic who shaped the 'American Sound'.

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Virgil Thomson

via Wikipedia: Virgil Thomson · see source

Virgil Thomson (1896–1989) was an American composer and critic who helped develop the "American Sound" in classical music.[1] He has been described as a modernist, a neoromantic, and a neoclassicist.[1] Thomson passed away at age 92 in his Manhattan Hotel Chelsea room, where his residence spanned nearly five decades.[2][3]

Making and release

After a year of study in Paris funded by a fellowship, Thomson made that city his home from 1925 through 1940 following his graduation.[4] In 1925, Thomson solidified a lasting bond with painter Maurice Grosser, who became his lifelong companion and artistic partner.[5] That film's score drew upon folk songs and religious musical traditions.[6][7] Thomson won the 1949 Pulitzer Prize for Music for his work on Robert J. Flaherty's 1948 film Louisiana Story.[8]

What the cited sources add

The Chicago Tribune obituary notes that Thomson's mature musical style took shape in Paris in the mid-1920s.[3] Benjamin Ivry's 2015 article reports that Thomson derided the International League of Composers as the "League of Jewish Composers".[9] Ivry also writes that Thomson expressed bigoted views on Jewish composers starting in the 1930s.[9] The Chicago Tribune obituary records that Thomson described violinist Jascha Heifetz's repertory as "silk-underwear music".[3]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Virgil Thomson" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Dickinson, Peter. 1986. "Stein Satie Cummings Thomson Berners Cage: Toward a Context for the Music of Virgil Thomson". The Musical Quarterly 72, no. 3:394–409.; Lerner, Neil William. 1997. "The Classical Documentary Score in American Films of Persuasion: Contexts and Case Studies, 1936–1945". PhD diss. Duke University.; Kime, Mary W. 1989. "Modernism and Americana: A Study of The Mother of Us All". Ars Musica Denver 2, no. 1 (Fall): pp. 24–29.; Watson, Steven. 1998. Prepare for Saints: Gertrude Stein, Virgil Thomson, and the Mainstreamin en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Virgil Thomson" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: von Rhein, "Virgil Thomson, Prize-winning Composer, Influential Music Critic", Chicago Tribune, 1 October 1989 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  3. von Rhein, "Virgil Thomson, Prize-winning Composer, Influential Music Critic", Chicago Tribune, 1 October 1989. facts only, no text reused. chicagotribune.com
  4. Wikipedia, "Virgil Thomson" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Michael Lamkin, "Encyclopedia of Music in the 20th Century", Routledge, 2013, p. 631; "Virgil Thomson", Encyclopædia Britannica; Michael Lamkin, "Encyclopedia of Music in the 20th Century", Routledge, 2013, p. 631 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Virgil Thomson" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Patricia Juliana Smith (2002), "Virgil Thomson", glbtqarchive.com (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "Virgil Thomson" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Lorentz 1992, p. 39–40, 52; The Plow That Broke the Plains – Suite score by Virgil Thomson as recorded by Leopold Stokowski and the Hollywood Bowl Symphony Orchestra in 1946 on archive.org; The River by Farm Security Administration, Paul Lorentz & Virgil Thomson on Archive.org; Lorentz 1992, p. 39–40, 52; Evett, Robert. "Virgil Thomson: Suite from The River", Notes, vol. 16, no. 1 (December, 1958), pp. 162–163 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  7. The Plow That Broke the Plains – Suite score by Virgil Thomson as recorded by Leopold Stokowski and the Hollywood Bowl Symphony Orchestra in 1946 on archive.org. facts only, no text reused. archive.org
  8. Wikipedia, "Virgil Thomson" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Tommasini 1997, p. [https://archive.org/details/virgilthomsoncom0000tomm/page/415 415]; Tommasini 1997, p. [https://archive.org/details/virgilthomsoncom0000tomm/page/415 415]; The Pulitzer Prizes – Music for the Film Louisiana Story by Virgil Thomson – 1949 Pulitzer prize Winner, Virgil Thomson on pulitzer.org; Tommasini 1997, p. [https://archive.org/details/virgilthomsoncom0000tomm/page/415 415] (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  9. Ivry, Benjamin. "Was Our Greatest Composer-Critic an Unrepentant Anti-Semite?", Forward, April 10, 2015. facts only, no text reused. forward.com

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Virgil Thomson (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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1. In what year was Virgil Thomson born?

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Not quite. The answer is 1896.

2. In which place was Virgil Thomson born?

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3. In what year did Virgil Thomson die?

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Not quite. The answer is 1989.

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Sources

Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.

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