Clara Butt

Dame Clara Ellen Butt (1 February 1872 – 23 January 1936) was an English dramatic contralto and one of the most popular singers from the 1890s through to the 1920s. She had an exceptionally fine contralto voice and an agile singing technique, and impressed contemporary composers such as Saint-Saëns and Elgar; the latter composed his Sea Pictures, Op. 37 with her voice in mind.

Her main career was as a recitalist and concert singer. She appeared in only two operatic productions, both of Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice. Later in her career she frequently appeared in recitals together with her husband, the baritone Kennerley Rumford. She made numerous recordings for the gramophone.

Early life and career Clara Butt was born in Southwick, Sussex, the eldest daughter of Henry Albert Butt, a sea captain, and his wife Clara née Hook. In 1880, the family moved to the port city of Bristol where her brother, Lawson was born. Clara Butt was educated at South Bristol High School, where her singing ability was recognised and her talent as a performer encouraged. At the request of her headmistress, she was trained by the bass Daniel Rootham (father of the composer Cyril Rootham) and joined the Bristol Festival Chorus, of which Daniel Rootham was musical director. and Albert Visetti, while her piano teacher was Marmaduke Barton. During her fourth year of vocal lessons at the college she spent three months studying in Paris sponsored by Queen Victoria. She also studied in Berlin and Italy. George Bernard Shaw, who was then the music critic for The World, wrote that she "far surpassed the utmost expectations that could reasonably be entertained", and forecast a considerable career for her.

Later Butt polished her skills in Berlin with the famous retired soprano Etelka Gerster. her friend Fanny Ronalds bequeathed the original manuscript of the song to her. She was primarily a concert singer; her only operatic performances were in two productions of Orfeo ed Euridice. She also sung ballads by popular composers like Thomas Arthur Goring and Elva Lorence (Florence Eva Simpson). The leading composer of the era, Edward Elgar, composed his song-cycle Sea Pictures for contralto and orchestra with her in mind as soloist; she sang at the first performance of the work at the Norwich Festival on 5 October 1899, with the composer conducting.

Marriage and family

On 24 March 1900 Butt performed at the Bournemouth Winter Gardens with the baritone Kennerley Rumford, and they were married in Bristol on 26 June 1900.

Thereafter Butt would often appear with him in concerts.

Later life

Besides singing in many important festivals and concerts, Butt appeared by royal command before Queen Victoria and Kings Edward VII and George V. She made tours of Australia, Japan, Canada, New Zealand, the United States and to many European cities. It was her only appearance on the professional operatic stage. She sang The Dream of Gerontius with the Australian contralto Eileen Boyd for King George V and Queen Mary in 1917.

Butt's three sisters were also singers. One, Ethel Hook, became a famous contralto in her own right, made some solo recordings, and in 1926 appeared in an early sound film made in the Lee de Forest Phonofilm sound-on-film process.

She was clouded by tragedy in her later years, with both her sons predeceasing her. During the 1920s, she became seriously ill with spinal cancer. Nevertheless, she continued to give concerts and make records. A devout Christian Scientist, she took part in revivalist meetings, singing, and giving sermons. She died at North Stoke on 23 January 1936.