Thomson, Virgil, 1896–1989, American composer, critic, and organist, b. Kansas City, Mo. Thomson studied in Paris with Nadia Boulanger Boulanger, Nadia (nädyä` b
..... Click the link for more information. . Until about 1926 he wrote in a dissonant, neoclassic style, but after his 16-minute quintet Sonata da chiesa (1926) he began to employ a highly simplified style that shows the influence of Erik Satie Satie, Erik (ārēk` sätē`)
..... Click the link for more information. . He wrote two operas, Four Saints in Three Acts (1928) and The Mother of Us All (1947), for librettos by Gertrude Stein Stein, Gertrude, 1874–1946, American author and patron of the arts, b. Allegheny (now part of Pittsburgh), Pa. A celebrated personality, she encouraged, aided, and influenced—through her patronage as well as through her writing—many literary and
..... Click the link for more information. ; music for films including The River (1937) and Louisiana Story (1948); the ballet Filling Station (1937); an opera, Lord Byron (1972); and numerous works for voice, organ, piano, and chamber ensembles. Thomson was music critic for the New York Herald Tribune from 1940 until 1954. His books include The State of Music (1939), The Musical Scene (1945), The Art of Judging Music (1948), and American Music since 1910 (1971).

Bibliography

See his autobiography (1966); biography by A. Tommasini (1997).

Thomson, Virgil

(born Nov. 25, 1896, Kansas City, Mo., U.S.—died Sept. 30, 1989, New York, N.Y.) U.S. composer and critic. He attended Harvard University, intending to become a pianist and organist. Studying in Paris with Nadia Boulanger (1921), he met the French composers known as Les Six and their circle and began to compose. While residing in Paris (1925–40), he met Gertrude Stein, with whom he wrote the operas Four Saints in Three Acts (1928) and The Mother of Us All (1946), affecting a charmingly naïve style. Back in New York City, he served as music critic of the Herald Tribune (1940–54); his gracefully written criticism was respected for its concern with music rather than performers. His other works include the film scores The Plow That Broke the Plains (1936) and The Louisiana Story (1949, Pulitzer Prize).

Thomson, Virgil (Garnett) (1896–1989) composer, music critic; born in Kansas City, Mo. Studying piano and organ as a youth, he grew up knowing the traditional Protestant hymns before going off to continue his music studies at Harvard, in Paris (1922), and at the Mannes Music School in New York City (1923–24). Returning to Paris in 1925, he lived there for the next ten years and developed a style characterized by a sophisticated simplicity, often drawing on American folk themes. He composed symphonies, ballets, choral and chamber music; over 100 musical "portraits" of well-known individuals; two operas with librettos by Gertrude Stein—Four Saints in Three Acts (premiered 1934) and The Mother of Us All (1947); and several film scores, notably Louisiana Story (which won the 1948 Pulitzer Prize). When he returned to the U.S.A., he became the music critic of the New York Herald Tribune (1940–54) and continued to "hold court" at his apartment in the Chelsea Hotel in New York City to the end.