13 Facts About Clara Butt

Dame Clara Ellen Butt was an English dramatic contralto and one of the most popular singers from the 1890s through to the 1920s.

Clara Butt had an exceptionally fine contralto voice and an agile singing technique, and impressed contemporary composers such as Saint-Saens and Elgar; the latter composed his Sea Pictures, Op.

Clara Butt appeared in only two operatic productions, both of Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice.

Clara Butt was born in Southwick, Sussex, the eldest daughter of Henry Albert Butt, a sea captain, and his wife Clara nee Hook.

Clara Butt won a scholarship to the Royal College of Music in January 1890.

Clara Butt made her professional debut on 7 December 1892 at the Royal Albert Hall in London in Sullivan's cantata The Golden Legend.

Clara Butt made many gramophone recordings, often accompanied by the pianist Lilian Bryant.

Clara Butt was primarily a concert singer; her only operatic performances were in two productions of Orfeo ed Euridice.

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

Besides singing in many important festivals and concerts, Butt appeared by royal command before Queen Victoria, King Edward VII, and King George V She made tours of Australia, Japan, Canada, New Zealand, the United States and to many European cities.

Clara Butt performed 110 times at the Royal Albert Hall in her career, organising many important fund-raising concerts for charities during the First World War.

Clara Butt sang The Dream of Gerontius with the Australian contralto Eileen Boyd for King George V and Queen Mary in 1917.

Clara Butt was clouded by tragedy in her later years, with both her sons predeceasing her.