Thomson, Virgil (1896-1989), was an American composer and music critic. He gained international fame with his first opera, Four Saints in Three Acts (1934). Thomson also became famous for his simple, almost hymnlike style and subtle humor in music.
Thomson was born in Kansas City, Missouri, on Nov. 25, 1896. From 1925 to 1940, he lived in Paris, where, he was influenced by Erik Satie and other modern French composers. Thomson’s Missa Pro Defunctis (1960), a religious composition for chorus, shows Satie’s influence. In Paris, Thomson and American writer Gertrude Stein became friends. They collaborated on two operas, Four Saints in Three Acts and The Mother of Us All (1947). In New York, he composed the opera Lord Byron (1972) with Jack Larsen.
Thomson was a pioneer among concert composers in writing music for motion pictures. He composed the music for two famous documentary films, The Plow That Broke the Plains (1936) and The River (1937). Thomson won the 1949 Pulitzer Prize for his film score for the documentary Louisiana Story (1948). His other works include many compositions, which he called portraits, such as The Mayor La Guardia Waltzes (1942), and such descriptive pieces as The Seine at Night (1947). He also composed three symphonies (1928, 1931, 1972).
From 1940 to 1954, Thomson served as music critic of the New York Herald Tribune. His literary style and insight into modern music made him one of the most respected critics of his time. His reviews were published in such collections as The Musical Scene (1945), The Art of Judging Music (1948), and Music Right and Left (1951). He also wrote The State of Music (1939) and an autobiography, Virgil Thomson (1966). Thomson died on Oct. 2, 1989.
