Virgil, Polydore: see Vergil, Polydore.

Virgil: see Vergil.

Thomson, Virgil, 1896-1989, American composer, critic, and organist, b. Kansas City, Mo. Thomson studied in Paris with Nadia Boulanger. 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. He wrote two operas, Four Saints in Three Acts (1928) and The Mother of Us All (1947), for librettos by Gertrude Stein; 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).

(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).

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or Vergil orig. Publius Vergilius Maro

(born Oct. 15, 70, Andes, near Mantua—died Sept. 21, 19 BC, Brundisium) Greatest of Roman poets. The well-educated son of a prosperous provincial farmer, Virgil led a quiet life, though he eventually became a member of the circle around Octavian (later Caesar Augustus) and was patronized by Maecenas. His first major work, the 10 pastoral Eclogues (42–37), may be read as a prophecy of tranquility, and one has even been read as a prophecy of Christianity. The Georgics (37–30) point toward a Golden Age in the form of practical goals: the repopulation of rural lands and the rehabilitation of agriculture. His great epic, the Aeneid (begun circa 29, but unfinished at his death), is one of the masterpieces of world literature. A celebration of the founding of Rome by the legendary Aeneas at the request of Augustus, whose consolidation of power in 31–30 unified the Roman world, it also explores the themes of war and the pathos of unrequited love. In later centuries his works were regarded in the Roman Empire as virtually sacred. He was taken up reverently by Christians as well, including Dante, who, in his poem The Divine Comedy, made Virgil his guide through hell and purgatory.

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(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).

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