Thomas Vincent Cator


Thomas Vincent Cator was an American composer. His most significant achievement was the discovery and use of what he called the aura-modal scale.

Biography

Thomas Vincent Cator was born in Jersey City, New Jersey on March 23, 1888. He was the son of Thomas Vincent Cator Sr., a lawyer and politician who ran for office for the Populist Party in California in the late 19th century. He had a sister Marie, who became a writer and poet and first married Max Wardall and later the famous figure skating couch Gustave Lussi.
Cator became popular in the late 1910s and 1920s with his songs. A notable story was when renowned singer Eleonora de Cisneros sang his song "The Kiss" in a Liberty Bonds sale in New York City in early 1919 and received 43 million dollars for 43 kisses to bankers. He also invented the Aura-Modal Scale, in which he composed several piano pieces.
In 1922, Cator wrote the composition operetta for the play Inchling, written by Ira Mallory Remsen, that was a story of an inch worm and its struggle for wings, which captured the fantasies of young children.

Death

Cator died of a heart attack on April 9, 1931, in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California at the age of 45.

Compositions

  • The Kiss, for voice and piano
  • To Ramona, for voice and piano
  • The pool of quietness, for voice and piano
  • St. Moritz, for voice and piano
  • One Day, for voice and piano
  • Zamboanga, for voice and piano
  • Clorinda sings, for voice and piano
  • Three melodies for violin and piano
  • Operetta Inchling
  • Violin sonata