CLARA BUTT

'Dame Clara Ellen Butt' DBE (1 February 1872–23 January 1936), sometimes called 'Clara Butt-Rumford' after her marriage, was an English contralto.
Clara Butt was born in Southwick, Sussex. Her father was a sea captain. In 1880 the family moved to Bristol and Clara was educated at South Bristol High School, where her singing talent was recognised and encouraged. At the request of her headmistress, she was trained by the bass (vocal range) Daniel Rootham and joined the Bristol Festival Chorus, of which he was musical director. In January 1890 she won a scholarship to the Royal College of Music. In her fourth year she spent three months studying in Paris at the expense of Queen Victoria. She also studied in Berlin and Italy.
She made her professional début at the Royal Albert Hall in London in Sir Arthur Sullivan’s ''The Golden Legend'' on 7 December 1892. Soon she had acquired an excellent reputation, aided by her physical presence - she was 6 feet 2 inches tall. She made many gramophone recordings, often accompanied by the (uncredited) pianist Miss Lillian Bryant. She was primarily a concert singer and only ever appeared in two opera productions, both of Gluck's ''Orfeo ed Euridice'', in 1892 and 1920.
In 1900 she married the baritone Kennerley Rumford, and thenceforth often appeared with him in concerts. Besides singing in many important festivals and concerts, she was honoured with royal commands from Queen Victoria, King Edward VII, and King George V.
During the First World War she organised and sang in many concerts for service charities, and for this she was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the 1920 civilian war honours.
She died in 1936 at the age of 63 at her home in North Stoke, Oxfordshire. This was as a result of an accident she suffered in 1931.

Contents

References

External link

References

★ Biography, ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography''

★ Andrea Suhm-Binder's biography page

External link

★ Dame Clara Butt - The Complete Discography