Introduction

Biography

A ba­ri­tone and com­pos­er, Tho­mas first came to Am­eri­ca with the Se­quin Eng­lish Ope­ra Com­pa­ny and be­came in­ter­est­ed in the mu­sic of Am­eri­ca that was de­vel­op­ing. He sang and toured with Bry­ant’s Mins­trels and set­tled in New York.

He wrote more than one hun­dred po­pu­lar Am­eri­can songs, and com­posed three larg­er works: The Pic­nic (1869), a child­ren’s op­er­et­ta with li­bret­to by George Coop­er; The La­dy in the Mask (1870), an op­er­et­ta with li­bret­to by George Coop­er; and Dia­mond Cut Dia­mond (1876), a par­lor op­era in one act.

In ad­di­tion to his po­pu­lar songs, Tho­mas com­posed sac­red mu­sic, and was known as a teach­er in Brook­lyn and in New York Ci­ty.

Works

Thomas’ po­pu­lar songs in­clude:

• The Cot­tage by the Sea, 1856
• Old Friends and Old Times, 1856
• Bonny Elo­ise—The Belle of Mo­hawk Vale, 1858
• ’Tis but a Lit­tle Fad­ed Flow­er, 1860
• When the War Is Ov­er, Ma­ry, 1864
• Beautiful Isle of the Sea, 1865
• Croquet, 1867
• The Pic­nic, 1869, a can­ta­ta for schools
• The La­dy in the Mask, 1870, an op­er­et­ta
• Eilleen Al­lan­na, 1873
• Rose of Kil­lar­ney, 1876
• Diamond Cut Dia­mond, 1876, a one act op­era