Clarence Loomis (December 13, 1889 July 3, 1965), an American composer, pianist, and teacher, was born in

Sioux Falls, South Dakota Sioux Falls () is the most populous city in the U.S. state of South Dakota and the 130th-most populous city in the United States. It is the county seat of Minnehaha County and also extends into Lincoln County to the south, which continues up ...

Biography

He studied piano and composition at the

American Conservatory The Fontainebleau Schools were founded in 1921, and consist of two schools: ''The American Conservatory'', and the ''School of Fine Arts at Fontainebleau''. History When the United States entered First World War the commander of its army, Gener ...

in Chicago and also privately in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

. Loomis taught at Butler University in Indianapolis, at Highlands University in

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ke ...

, and at the American Conservatory in Chicago. He composed 11

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libr ...

s, numerous choral works, ballets, tone poems, oratorios and other works. His compositions include ''Alabado Sea'', an oratorio, ''Revival'', a radio opera, ''Oak Street Beach'', a ballet, and ''Macbeth'', a symphonic tone poem. Loomis spent the last five years of his life in Aptos, California, near Santa Cruz."Clarence Loomis, Composer, Dies", ''Santa Cruz Sentinel'', July 4, 1965.

Operas

Loomis's operas include ''A Night in Avignon'', based on the life of the Italian lyric poet Petrarch, ''Dun an Oir (Castle of Gold)'', based on Gaelic folklore, ''The Fall of the House of Usher'', based on the tale by Edgar Allan Poe, ''David'', a biblical opera, and ''Yolanda of Cyprus''. ''Yolanda of Cyprus'' was premiered in 1929 by

Vladimir Rosing Vladimir Sergeyevich Rosing (russian: Владимир Серге́евич Розинг) (November 24, 1963), also known as Val Rosing, was a Russian-born operatic tenor and stage director who spent most of his professional career in the United ...

American Opera Company The American Opera Company was the name of four different opera companies active in the United States. The first company was a short-lived opera company founded in New York City in February, 1886 that lasted only one season. The second company grew ...

and performed in 14 cities in the United States and Canada. The opera was the winner of the David Bispham Medal awarded to American opera composers of note. The libretto for ''Yolanda of Cyprus'' was by writer Cale Young Rice, who also collaborated with Loomis on other projects. Sets were designed by

Robert Edmond Jones Robert Edmond Jones (December 12, 1887 – November 26, 1954) was an American scenic, lighting, and costume designer. He is credited with incorporating the new stagecraft into the American drama. His designs sought to integrate scenic elem ...

. The opera got mixed reviews. At its American premiere in Chicago, Herman Devries of the Evening American called the opera “a monument in American music,” proclaiming it “the one and only American opera of our generation." Others characterized the score as a pale imitation of

Debussy (Achille) Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influential composers of the ...

and

Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...

and the libretto passed over as " conventional."

The Flapper and the Quarterback

During the 1920s, the dancer

Ruth Page (ballerina) Ruth Page (March 22, 1899 April 7, 1991) was an American ballerina and choreographer, who created innovative works on American themes. Life Family Page was married to attorney Thomas Hart Fisher from 1925 to 1969, and to artist Andre Delfau ...

commissioned Loomis to write a distinctively new kind of American ballet for her international tour. ''The Flapper and the Quarterback'' toured Asia and Russia with Page's company, and was a featured part of the festivities surrounding the coronation of Japan's Emperor Hirohito in 1928. The choreography was influenced broadly by the popular dance styles of the Jazz Age.

Susanna Don't You Cry

Loomis was commissioned to write a musical based on the life of American songwriter

Stephen Foster Stephen Collins Foster (July 4, 1826January 13, 1864), known also as "the father of American music", was an American composer known primarily for his parlour and minstrel music during the Romantic period. He wrote more than 200 songs, inc ...

. ''Susanna Don't You Cry'' was produced in New York at the

Martin Beck Theater The Al Hirschfeld Theatre, originally the Martin Beck Theatre, is a Broadway theater at 302 West 45th Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1924, it was designed by G. Albert Lansburgh in a Moorish and ...

in 1939.

Relation to Abraham Lincoln

Clarence Loomis was related by marriage through his father's first cousin to President

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...

.''Washington Evening Star'', January 19, 1930. pg. 56.

References

{{Reflist 1889 births 1965 deaths People from Sioux Falls, South Dakota 20th-century American composers 20th-century American pianists Jazz musicians from South Dakota American male jazz musicians American male jazz composers American jazz composers