British Dramatic Contralto who debuted Sir Edward Elgar's "Sea Pictures", "Coronation Ode" and "Dream of Gerontius" stood 6 feet, 2 inches in height in stocking feet and, according to Sir Thomas Beecham, could be heard on a clear day across the British Channel. Referred to as "The Voice of the Empire" and "The British Schumann- Heink" she married baritone Robert Kennerly Rumford in 1900 and the Rumfords often gave joint recitals. The Rumfords had two sons, Roy and Victor and a daughter, Joy. Clara Butt was made Dame Clara Butt in 1920 for her charity work during W.W.I. Favorite son Roy died of meningitis in 1923, Victor committed suicide in 1934 and Dame Clara died in her home, Brooke Lodge, North Stoke, Oxfordshire, surrounded by her family after a long bout with cancer of the spine.
British Dramatic Contralto who debuted Sir Edward Elgar's "Sea Pictures", "Coronation Ode" and "Dream of Gerontius" stood 6 feet, 2 inches in height in stocking feet and, according to Sir Thomas Beecham, could be heard on a clear day across the British Channel. Referred to as "The Voice of the Empire" and "The British Schumann- Heink" she married baritone Robert Kennerly Rumford in 1900 and the Rumfords often gave joint recitals. The Rumfords had two sons, Roy and Victor and a daughter, Joy. Clara Butt was made Dame Clara Butt in 1920 for her charity work during W.W.I. Favorite son Roy died of meningitis in 1923, Victor committed suicide in 1934 and Dame Clara died in her home, Brooke Lodge, North Stoke, Oxfordshire, surrounded by her family after a long bout with cancer of the spine.
Bio by: Ed Norton
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