Virgil Thomson [1896–1989], born in Kansas City, Missouri, was a composer who contributed to nearly every classical genre—orchestral, chamber music, choral, operatic, solo voice, and solo instrument—and whose music is considered among the most accessible to young singers and musicians. After a course of study at Harvard, Thomson lived for 15 years in Paris [1925–40] and spent considerable time with prominent members of what was considered Bohemian Society back then. Members of his social circle included writers Joyce and Hemingway, fellow musicians Stravinsky and Copland, and Gertrude Stein. The latter became his mentor and artistic collaborator, and Thomson would later write the opera, The Mother of Us All [1947]—which depicting the life of suffragist Susan B. Anthony—to a Stein libretto.
The music of fellow Paris resident Erik Satie was considerably influential in the material Thomson would create throughout his life. Nonetheless, his music is decidedly American in theme and rhythm, with critics describing his overall work as having “hymnbook-type harmony.” Many of his early works were for chorus or vocal soloist, or a combination of the two, and tended to reflect a religious theme. Included among these are Sanctus [1921], Missa brevis [1924], and Five Phrases from “The Song of Solomon” [1925].
Thomson was also famous for creating what he called “musical portraits” of people he knew. Some of these individuals were quite famous—philanthropist Peggy Guggenheim [1940] and New York Mayor Fiorello La Guardia [1942]—with others considerably less so, such as French Surrealist writer Lisa Deharme [1940]. Among his orchestral works are three symphonies, the final one composed in 1972, as well as a number of movie scores. These include documentaries The Plow That Broke the Plains [1936] and The River [1938], both directed by Pare Lorentz, and Louisiana Story [1948], directed by Robert Flaherty. This latter effort won Thomson a Pulitzer Prize. He also received the National Medal of Arts in 1988.
A brief excerpt from the film, The Plow That Broke the Plains, with a score by Virgil Thomson:
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