William Ennis Thomson (May 24, 1927 – May 17, 2019) was an American music educator at the collegiate level,

music theorist Music theory is the study of the practices and possibilities of music. ''The Oxford Companion to Music'' describes three interrelated uses of the term "music theory". The first is the "rudiments", that are needed to understand music notation (ke ...

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

, former Music School Dean and professor at the

Thornton School of Music The USC Thornton School of Music is a private music school in Los Angeles, California. Founded in 1884 only four years after the University of Southern California, the Thornton School is the oldest continually operating arts institution in Los An ...

, University of Southern California from 1980 to 1992."Music, Dance, News: Appointments", ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'', p. Q 71, col. 3, June 8, 1980 His interest in research centered around the

cognitive Cognition refers to "the mental action or process of acquiring knowledge and understanding through thought, experience, and the senses". It encompasses all aspects of intellectual functions and processes such as: perception, attention, thought, ...

and

perceptual Perception () is the organization, identification, and interpretation of sense, sensory information in order to represent and understand the presented information or environment. All perception involves signals that go through the nervous ...

foundation of music, insight for which is found in his 2006 article, "Pitch Frames as Melodic

Archetype The concept of an archetype (; ) appears in areas relating to behavior, historical psychology, and literary analysis. An archetype can be any of the following: # a statement, pattern of behavior, prototype, "first" form, or a main model that ot ...

s", '' Empirical Musicology Review'', 1.2, 1–18. Thomson has served the faculties of

SUNY Buffalo The State University of New York at Buffalo, commonly called the University at Buffalo (UB) and sometimes called SUNY Buffalo, is a public research university with campuses in Buffalo and Amherst, New York. The university was founded in 1846 ...

(1975–80) (Chair of Music and Albert Ziegle Professor);

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it was the first university in the Arizona Territory. T ...

(Director of Graduate Studies) (1972–75);

Case Western Reserve University Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) is a private research university in Cleveland, Ohio. Case Western Reserve was established in 1967, when Western Reserve University, founded in 1826 and named for its location in the Connecticut Western Reser ...

(Fynette Hill Kulas Professor) (1969–72);

Indiana University School of Music The Indiana University Jacobs School of Music in Bloomington, Indiana, is a music conservatory established in 1921. Until 2005, it was known as the Indiana University School of Music. It has more than 1,500 students, approximately half of whom ar ...

(1961–69) (Professor of Music Theory; Chair Music Theory Department);

University of Hawaii A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, th ...

Scholar in Residence (1967–68);

Sul Ross State University Sul Ross State University (SRSU) is a public university in Alpine, Texas. The main campus is the primary institution of higher education serving the nineteen-county Big Bend region of far West Texas. Branch campuses, branded as Rio Grande Colleg ...

(1951–60), and

Ford Foundation The Ford Foundation is an American private foundation with the stated goal of advancing human welfare. Created in 1936 by Edsel Ford and his father Henry Ford, it was originally funded by a US$25,000 gift from Edsel Ford. By 1947, after the death ...

composer in residence (1960–61)."Ford Foundation Announces Fellowship Award Winners", ''

'', p. E8, April 17, 1960 He chaired the

ETS ETS or ets may refer to: Climate change, environment and economy * Emissions trading scheme ** European Union Emission Trading Scheme Organisations * European Thermoelectric Society * Evangelical Theological Society Education * École de techno ...

Advanced Placement in Music Test Committee (1975–79); served as music panel member and examiner for the

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal ...

(1971–75, while Nancy Hanks was chairman); fellow and policy committee member of the

; served as a key participant in the Contemporary Music Project (1963–75); Board member of the

Buffalo Philharmonic The Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra is an American symphony orchestra located in Buffalo, New York led by Music Director JoAnn Faletta. Its primary performing venue is Kleinhans Music Hall, which is a National Historic Landmark. Each season it ...

(1976–80); taught and composed works for wind band, orchestra, chorus (accompanied and ''

a cappella ''A cappella'' (, also , ; ) music is a performance by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Ren ...

''); and various chamber music media. Thomson also served in the Armed Forces:

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage o ...

(1945–46).

Collegiate education

Thomson was born in

Fort Worth Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, covering nearly into four other counties: Denton, Johnson, Parker, and Wise. According ...

. He earned two degrees from the

University of North Texas The University of North Texas (UNT) is a public research university in Denton, Texas. It was founded as a nonsectarian, coeducational, private teachers college in 1890 and was formally adopted by the state 11 years later."Denton Normal School," ...

: Bachelor of Music (composition), 1948, and a Master of Music (composition) 1949. He also earned a PhD in Music Theory and Philosophy in 1952 from

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. *Indiana Universit ...

, Bloomington. While at North Texas, Thomson was a member of the inaugural Laboratory Dance Band (1946–47) – the forerunner of the

One O'Clock Lab Band One O'Clock Lab Band is an ensemble of the Jazz Studies division at the University of North Texas College of Music in Denton, Texas. Since the 1970s, the band's albums have received seven Grammy Award nominations, including two for ''Lab 2009''. ...

– during the launch year of the first college degree in jazz offered in the world. At North Texas, he crossed paths with: #

Wilfred Bain Wilfred Conwell Bain (January 20, 1908 – March 7, 1997) was an American music educator, a university level music school administrator (former Dean of two major music schools spanning 35 years), and an opera theater director at the collegiate le ...

, who, as dean of the School of Music, collaborated with Gene Hall to create the country's first jazz degree program in his final year and Gene Hall's first year (1947) before moving on to

where he rapidly built another major school of music; Bain, essentially pioneered a new post-war large-scale model for higher music education by creating and integrating two comprehensive music schools within full liberal arts universities (North Texas, during Bain's era, was a large teachers college, but emerged in the late 1950s as a liberal arts university) # William F. Lee III, also a member of the first Lab Band at North Texas, who, later became a pioneering dean at a major music school, the

University of Miami School of Music Frost School of Music is the music school at the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida. From 1926 to 2003, it was known as University of Miami School of Music. Academics and programs The University of Miami's Frost School of Music was on ...

Compositions

* Viola Sonata (1948) * String Quartet (1949) (partial fulfillment of a thesis for a Master in Music in Composition at the

University of North Texas College of Music The University of North Texas College of Music, based in Denton, is a comprehensive music school among the largest enrollment of any music institution accredited by the National Association of Schools of Music. It developed the first jazz studies ...

) * ''Western Star'' (text completed by

Stephen Vincent Benét Stephen Vincent Benét (; July 22, 1898 – March 13, 1943) was an American poet, short story writer, and novelist. He is best known for his book-length narrative poem of the American Civil War, ''John Brown's Body'' (1928), for which he receive ...

in 1943, posthumously published in 1944; and posthumously awarded the

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made h ...

, his second, in 1944), for 3 readers, chorus, piano (or band) (1956) † * Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra,

Alpine, Texas Alpine ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Brewster County, Texas, United States. The population was 5,905 at the 2010 census. The town has an elevation of , and the surrounding mountain peaks are over above sea level. The university, hospi ...

(Oct 7, 1955) * Clarinet Sonata (1958) * ''Permutations'', for band (1961) * ''Desert Seasons, Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter'' for mixed chorus * ''Transformations'', for orchestra (1961) ( MENC, Contemporary Music Project for Creativity in Music Education) # Theme # Dance # Nocturne # March # Misterioso # Scherzo * ''Velvet Shoes'', for women's chorus (1964) * ''Desert Seasons, Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter'', for mixed chorus * ''The Two Marys'', for mixed chorus (1965) * ''Fantasia and Dance'', for clarinet and piano (1967) * ''Praise ye the Lord'' (Text from

Psalm 117 Psalm 117 is the 117th psalm of the Book of Psalms, beginning in English in the King James Version: "O praise the LORD, all ye nations: praise him, all ye people." In Latin, it is known as ''Laudate Dominum''. Consisting of only two verses, Psalm ...

), vocal quartet for

SATB SATB is an initialism that describes the scoring of compositions for choirs, and also choirs (or consorts) of instruments. The initials are for the voice types: S for soprano, A for alto, T for tenor and B for bass. Choral music Four-part harm ...

Ann Arbor, Michigan Ann Arbor is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Washtenaw County, Michigan, Washtenaw County. The 2020 United States census, 2020 census recorded its population to be 123,851. It is the principal city of the Ann Arbor ...

(1968) :† The principal reader for the premier at

in the 1950s was

Dan Blocker Bobby Dan Davis Blocker (December 10, 1928 – May 13, 1972) was an American television actor and Korean War veteran, who played Hoss Cartwright in the long-running NBC Western television series ''Bonanza''. Biography Early life Blocker was born ...

, then a student in the drama wing of Fine Arts at Sul Ross.

Publications and presentations

1950 PhD dissertation * "A Clarification of the Tonality Concept",

(1952) 1960s books * ''Materials and Structure of Music, Vols. I & II'', William B. Christ, Richard Peter Delone (1928–1984), Vernon Lee Kliewer, Lewis Eugene Rowell (1933–), William Ennis Thomson,

Prentice-Hall Prentice Hall was an American major educational publisher owned by Savvas Learning Company. Prentice Hall publishes print and digital content for the 6–12 and higher-education market, and distributes its technical titles through the Safari B ...

(1965), 2nd ed. (1973), 3rd ed. (1981) * ''Workbooks I and II, Materials and Structure of Music'', William B. Christ, Richard Peter Delone (1928–1984), Vernon Lee Kliewer, Lewis Eugene Rowell (1933–), William Ennis Thomson,

(1965), 2nd ed. (1973), 3rd ed. (1981) * ''Introduction to Music Reading'', Wadsworth Publishing Co. (1966), Second Edition
Everett Books
(1990) * ''The Hawaii Music Curriculum Project: The Project Design'', (book) College of Education,

(1969) 1960s articles * ''The Total Theory Program'', paper given at the conference on Curriculum and Supervision in Music Education,

(July 1964) * ''The World of Sound and How We Hear It'', TV presentation for

Television station, Bloomington (September 1964) * ''Music Analysis as a Search for Universals'', paper presented at th
College Music Society
Conference,

Ann Arbor Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female given name Anna (name), Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah (given name), Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie (given name), ...

(December 1965) * ''

Hindemith Paul Hindemith (; 16 November 189528 December 1963) was a German composer, music theorist, teacher, violist and conductor. He founded the Amar Quartet in 1921, touring extensively in Europe. As a composer, he became a major advocate of the ' ...

's Contribution to Music Theory'', ''

Journal of Music Theory The ''Journal of Music Theory'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal specializing in music theory and analysis. It was established by David Kraehenbuehl (Yale University) in 1957. According to its website, " e ''Journal of Music Theory'' fosters c ...

'' (April 1965) * ''Introduction to Music Reading: Concepts & Applications'',

Wadsworth Publishing Cengage Group is an American educational content, technology, and services company for the higher education, K-12, professional, and library markets. It operates in more than 20 countries around the world.(Jun 27, 2014Global Publishing Leaders ...

(1966) (1981) * ''Review of Bence Szabolcsi's "A History of Melody",
Notes
' (December 1966) * ''New Math, New Science, New Music'', ''Music Educators Journal'', 53, (March 1967) * ''Introduction to Ear Training'', by William E. Thomson and Richard Peter Delone (1928–1984),

Belmont, California Belmont is a city in San Mateo County in the U.S. state of California. It is in the San Francisco Bay Area, on the San Francisco Peninsula about halfway between San Francisco and San Jose. Known for its wooded hills, views of the San Francisco ...

(1967) * ''The Problem of Music Analysis and Universals'', MENC Source Book III, 152–160 (1967) * ''Teaching Musical Concepts in Ensemble Performance'', ''Music Educators Journal'' (May 1968) * ''Advanced Music Reading'',

, (1969) * ''Music History and Music Theory Courses in the University'', paper presented at the Music Teachers National Convention, Cincinnati (April, 1969) 1970s books * ''Introduction to Music as Structure – Composition. Elements and techniques of music'',

Addison-Wesley Addison-Wesley is an American publisher of textbooks and computer literature. It is an imprint of Pearson PLC, a global publishing and education company. In addition to publishing books, Addison-Wesley also distributes its technical titles through ...

(1971) * ''General Music: A Comprehensive Approach'',

Innovative Series (1974) * ''Music For Listeners'', Prentice-Hall, 1978. 1970s articles * ''Report from Ojinaga: the 1968 AIM Festival'', Notes From Eastman (June 1970) * ''Informal Comments on the Development of Aural Perception in a Comprehensive Music Program'', paper presented at the MENC Pre-Conference Workshop Session, Chicago (March, 1970) * ''Music Rides a Wave of Reform in Hawaii'', ''Music Educators Journal'', 56 (May 1970) * "Styles analysis: or the perils of pigeonholes", ''

'', 14.2, 191–208 (1970) * ''Paris in the Twenties'', paper presented at the

Cleveland Institute of Music The Cleveland Institute of Music (CIM) is a private music conservatory in Cleveland, Ohio. Founded in 1920 by Ernest Bloch, it enrolls 325 students in the conservatory and approximately 1,500 students in the preparatory and continuing educatio ...

50th anniversary party (October 4, 1970) * ''The Core Commitment in Theory and Literature for Tomorrow's Musician'', ''Symposium'', College Music Society, X (Fall, 1970) * ''Basic Musicianship'', paper presented at the

National Association of Schools of Music The National Association of Schools of Music (NASM) is an association of post-secondary music schools in the United States and the principal U.S. accreditor for higher education in music. It was founded on October 20, 1924, and is based in Reston ...

meeting (November 1971) * ''New Challenges for the Independent Music School'', paper (1972) * "Education for the Professional", ''Dictionary of Modern Music'', 197–200 (1974) * "Sound: Musical", ''

Encyclopædia Britannica The (Latin for "British Encyclopædia") is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It is published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.; the company has existed since the 18th century, although it has changed ownership various time ...

'', 15th Ed. (1974) * "Review of 'Sonic Design' by

Robert Cogan Robert Cogan (February 2, 1930 – August 19, 2021) was an American music theorist, composer and teacher. Career He studied at the University of Michigan (B.M., 1951; M.M., 1952); Princeton University (M.F.A., 1956); Royal Conservatory of Brussel ...

and

Pozzi Escot Olga Pozzi-Escot Zapata (born 1 October 1933) is a Peruvian-born American composer, music theorist, and faculty member at the New England Conservatory in Boston, Massachusetts. Life Pozzi Escot was born in Lima, Peru, her father was a French pr ...

", ''

'' (1979) 1980s articles * "Functional Ambiguity in Musical Structures", ''

Music Perception ''Music Perception: An Interdisciplinary Journal'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal published by University of California Press five times a year. It was founded by Diana Deutsch. According to the ''Journal Citation Reports'', the journal has ...

'', I, 3, 3–27 (1983) * "Review of Counterpoint in the Style of

J.S. Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late baroque music, Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the ''Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suite ...

, Thomas Benjamin", ''

'', 31.2, 345–353 (1987) 1990s books * ''Schoenberg's Error (Studies in the Criticism and Theory of Music)'',

University of Pennsylvania Press The University of Pennsylvania Press (or Penn Press) is a university press affiliated with the University of Pennsylvania located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The press was originally incorporated with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania on 26 Ma ...

, (August 1991) * Theodore Lipps, ''

Consonance and Dissonance In music, consonance and dissonance are categorizations of simultaneous or successive Sound, sounds. Within the Western tradition, some listeners associate consonance with sweetness, pleasantness, and acceptability, and dissonance with harshness ...

in Music'', translated by William Ennis Thomson, Everett Books,

San Marino, CA San Marino is a residential city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. It was incorporated on April 25, 1913. At the 2010 census the population was 13,147. The city is one of the wealthiest places in the nation in terms of househo ...

(1995) * ''

Tonality Tonality is the arrangement of pitches and/or chords of a musical work in a hierarchy of perceived relations, stabilities, attractions and directionality. In this hierarchy, the single pitch or triadic chord with the greatest stability is call ...

in Music: a General Theory'', Everett Books

(1999) 1990s articles * ''Review of Mary Lou Serafine's "Music as Cognition: the Development of Thought in Sound"'',

Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education The ''Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education'' is a quarterly academic journal covering music education. It is published by the University of Illinois Press on behalf of the Council for Research in Music Education. History The ...

, 8–28 (Winter 1990)
''The Anatomy of Flawed Success: Comprehensive Musicianship Revisited''
''The Quarterly'', Vol. 1, No. 3, pp. 20–28 (Autumn 1990) * ''Response t
Graham H. Phipps'
"Review of William Thomson's ' Schoenberg's Error'"'',
Notes
' * "The Harmonic Root: A Fragile Marriage of Concept and Percept", ''

'', 10, No. 4 (1993) * ''Review of Michael Friedman's "Ear-Training for Twentieth-Century Music"'', ''

Journal of Music Theory Pedagogy The ''Journal of Music Theory Pedagogy'' is an annual peer-reviewed academic journal covering the teaching and pedagogy of music theory and analysis. It was established in 1987 and is published under the auspices of The Gail Boyd de Stwolinski Cen ...

'', VII, 129–146 (1993) * ''Music as Organic Evolution: Schoenberg's Mythic Springboard Into the Future'', ''Symposium''
College Music Society
33/34, 191–211 (1993) * Biographies for the

American National Biography The ''American National Biography'' (ANB) is a 24-volume biographical encyclopedia set that contains about 17,400 entries and 20 million words, first published in 1999 by Oxford University Press under the auspices of the American Council of Le ...

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

(1994) #

Paul Desmond Paul Desmond (born Paul Emil Breitenfeld; November 25, 1924 – May 30, 1977) was an American jazz alto saxophone, alto saxophonist and composer, best known for his work with the Dave Brubeck Quartet and for composing that group's biggest hit, " ...

# Vincent Anthony Guaraldi # Milton "Mezz" Mezzrow # James ("Jimmy") Andrew Rushing #

Elmer Snowden Elmer Chester Snowden (October 9, 1900 – May 14, 1973) was an American banjo player of the jazz age. He also played guitar and, in the early stages of his career, all the reed instruments. He contributed greatly to jazz in its early days as b ...

George Wettling George Godfrey Wettling (November 28, 1907 – June 6, 1968) was an American jazz drummer. He was born in Topeka, Kansas, United States, and from his early teens was living in Chicago, Illinois. He was one of the young Chicagoans who fell ...

* ''Emergent Dissonance and the Resolution of a Paradox'', ''Symposium,'
College Music Society
36, 114–137 (1996) * "Response to Michael Buchler's review of Tonality in Music", ''In Theory Only'', XIII (September 1997) * '' Wilfred C. Bain: A Reminiscence In Memoriam'', ''Symposium''
College Music Society
38, 1–5 (under the pseudonym Ennis Williams) (November 1998) * ''On Miles and the Modes'', ''Symposium''
College Music Society
38, 17–32 (November 1998) * ''Response to Murray Dineen's Review of "Tonality in Music"'', ''

Music Theory Spectrum ''Music Theory Spectrum'' () is a peer-reviewed, academic journal specializing in music theory and analysis. It is the official journal of the Society for Music Theory, and is published by Oxford University Press. The journal was first published ...

'' 23.2 (1999) 2000s articles * ''Those Strange Bedfellows, Politics and Music'', ''Symposium''
College Music Society
(Fall 2001) * ''Deductions Concerning Inductions of Tonalty'', ''

'', Vol. 19, pp. 127–138,

University of California Press The University of California Press, otherwise known as UC Press, is a publishing house associated with the University of California that engages in academic publishing. It was founded in 1893 to publish scholarly and scientific works by faculty ...

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland and Emer ...

(2001) * ''Review of "The New Handbook of Research on Music Teaching" and Learning by Richard Colwell & Carol Richardson'', ''Music Perception'',

, 20, No. 3, 341–350 (2003) * "On the tones of painting and the colors of music", ''Bulletin of Psychology and the Arts'', 4, 24–27, published by the

American Psychological Association The American Psychological Association (APA) is the largest scientific and professional organization of psychologists in the United States, with over 133,000 members, including scientists, educators, clinicians, consultants, and students. It ha ...

(2003) * "From Sounds to Music: the Contextualizations of Pitch", ''

'', 21.3, 431–456 (2004) * "Response to David Temperley's Commentary", '' Empirical Musicology Review'', I, 3, 182–184 (2006) * "Pitch Frames as Melodic Archetypes", ''Empirical Musicology Review'', 1.2, 1–18 (2006) * ''Music in Colonial America'', talk for the

Jamestowne Society Jamestowne Society is an organization founded in 1936 by George Craghead Gregory for descendants of stockholders in the Virginia Company of London and the descendants of those who owned land or who had domiciles in Jamestown or on Jamestown Isl ...

at TAIX restaurant, Los Angeles (May 20, 2006) * ''Fractured Musicology'', paper given at College Music Society Convention,

San Antonio, Texas ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_t ...

(2006) * ''Metamusic Versus the Sound of Music: a Critique of

Serialism In music, serialism is a method of Musical composition, composition using series of pitches, rhythms, dynamics, timbres or other elements of music, musical elements. Serialism began primarily with Arnold Schoenberg's twelve-tone technique, thou ...

'', foreword by David Butler, Professor Emeritus,

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...

Edwin Mellen Press The Edwin Mellen Press or Mellen Press is an international Independent business, independent company and Academic publisher, academic publishing house with editorial offices in Lewiston (town), New York, Lewiston, New York, and Lampeter, Lampete ...

, Lewiston, New York (2010) * ''Serialist Claims Versus Sonic Reality'', '' Empirical Musicology Review'', V-2 (2010)

Honors and awards

* 1948 – 1st Place, Young Composers,

National Federation of Music Clubs The National Federation of Music Clubs (NFMC) is an American non-profit philanthropic music organization that promotes American music, performers, and composers. NFMC endeavors to strengthen quality music education by supporting "high standards o ...

for the composition, ''Sonata for Violin and Piano'' – student of George Ellers Morey, PhD (1915–1995) of North Texas * 1971 – Outstanding Teacher Award,

* 1975 – Outstanding Teacher Award,

* 1992 – Outstanding Academic Book, (for ''Schoenberg's Error'')
Choice

American Library Association The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with 49,727 members a ...

* 2009 – Alumni Appreciation Award,

(bestowed upon two alumni from the College each year). According to the UNT Composition Department, the award for Dr. Thomson was particularly deserved because he is continuing a broad (interdisciplinary) and prolific career in music that spans beyond that of a composer.

Military service

Thomson served as a

Seaman Seaman may refer to: * Sailor, a member of a marine watercraft's crew * Seaman (rank), a military rank in some navies * Seaman (name) (including a list of people with the name) * ''Seaman'' (video game), a 1999 simulation video game for the Seg ...

(S2c; Service No. 358 74 10) in the

from 1945 to 1946. He was a musician in a Navy Band at

Camp Elliott Camp Kearny was a U.S. military base (first Army, later Navy) in San Diego County, California, on the site of the current Marine Corps Air Station Miramar. It operated from 1917 to 1946. The base was named in honor of Brigadier General Stephen ...

, California. Then he joined the Navy Band (as jazz trumpet soloist) aboard the as it sailed from San Diego to

Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the Naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Re ...

. While at Camp Elliott, Thomson did freelance arranging for

Gus Arnheim Gus Arnheim (September 4, 1897 – January 19, 1955) was an American pianist and an early popular band leader. He is noted for writing several songs with his first hit being "I Cried for You" from 1923. He was most popular in the 1920s and 1930s. He ...

, who, in the 1940s, owned a nightclub in downtown San Diego where he kept a small band going. Thomson was not permitted to enter the club during performances (he was too young); but he listened to the band playing his arrangements over the radio. Arnheim paid Thomson $15 for each arrangement.

Growing up

In his younger days, Thomson learned to play

french horn The French horn (since the 1930s known simply as the horn in professional music circles) is a brass instrument made of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. The double horn in F/B (technically a variety of German horn) is the horn most ...

and

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

, both in the classical and jazz idioms. When Thomson was five, his father bought him a

cornet The cornet (, ) is a brass instrument similar to the trumpet but distinguished from it by its conical bore, more compact shape, and mellower tone quality. The most common cornet is a transposing instrument in B, though there is also a sopr ...

, hoping to stave off his interest in the piano that his sister was studying ("boys didn't play piano"). And from that age, Thomson's mother began driving him to

Texas Christian University Texas Christian University (TCU) is a private research university in Fort Worth, Texas. It was established in 1873 by brothers Addison and Randolph Clark as the Add-Ran Male & Female College. It is affiliated with the Christian Church (Disciples ...

(TCU) on Saturdays for lessons with Don Gillis. When Thomson was eight, Don recommended that – since the highest paid member of any symphony in this country (after the

concert master The concertmaster (from the German ''Konzertmeister''), first chair (U.S.) or leader (U.K.) is the principal first violin player in an orchestra (or clarinet in a concert band). After the conductor, the concertmaster is the second-most signifi ...

), was the principal French horn player – perhaps he should switch to horn. So he did. The Gillis family lived in Polytechnic Heights, about four blocks from the Thomson family. The Gillis family attended Poly Baptist church, where the Thomson family were members. Don Gillis was very much involved in music at TCU. Growing up, Thomson played French horn in Poly Baptist Church "orchestra", directed by Don Gillis. Don's sister, Eileen, played piano. The local postman, Mr. Snow, played baritone horn. A member of the Crystal Springs Ramblers, Kenneth Pitts, played violin. Thomson read the baritone part from the Broadman Hymnal, transposing it for horn. Thomson attended Polytechnic High School, where he was involved in the band. Thomson became proficient at playing jazz solos on French horn with the Poly High School band. His high school band director was Perry Alton Sandifer (1910–2009), a trombonist, saxophonist, and clarinetist who, outside of school, performed in dance orchestras – one led by him bearing his name. Thomson graduated from Polytechnic High School in 1943.

Family

Thomson died in

Ventura, California Ventura, officially named San Buenaventura (Spanish for "Saint Bonaventure"), is a city on the Southern Coast of California and the county seat of Ventura County. The population was 110,763 at the 2020 census. Ventura is a popular tourist des ...

, on May 17, 2019, and was buried at Mount Olivet Cemetery.Obituary
''

Fort Worth Star-Telegram The ''Fort Worth Star-Telegram'' is an American daily newspaper serving Fort Worth and Tarrant County, the western half of the North Texas area known as the Metroplex. It is owned by The McClatchy Company. History In May 1905, Amon G. Carter acc ...

'', July 18, 2019 – via legacy.com