Skilton first became interested in the music of
American Indians in 1915, when George La Mere, an Indian pupil of his offered a trade; the pupil would sing him traditional tribal songs in exchange for lessons in
harmony. Skilton expressed interest, and soon found himself visiting the nearby
Haskell Institute. The first works he completed on Indian themes were
Two Indian Dances for
string quartet,
Deer Dance and
War Dance, originally intended for a student opera. These he later orchestrated as the first part of his
Suite Primeval; the second part, published four years later, consisted of four movements based on traditional songs of three tribes. These were: •
Sunrise Song, from the
Winnebago •
Gambling Song, from the
Rogue River •
Flute Serenade, from the
Sioux •
Moccasin Game, from the Winnebago Skilton also wrote
operas on Indian themes. The three-act
Kalopin was based on legends of the
Chickasaw and
Choctaw tribes, and took as its subject the
1812 New Madrid earthquake. This opera, though completed in 1927, was not publicly performed, but a one-act opera,
The Sun Bride (to a libretto by
Lillian White Spencer), was given on
NBC in 1930. This piece is based on
Pueblo themes, and incorporates themes from the Winnebago and
Chippewa. For his work on
Kalopin, Skilton was awarded the
Bispham Memorial Medal Award by the American Opera Association of
Chicago, Illinois. Besides his work on Indian motives, Skilton wrote music on other themes, including
incidental music for a production of
Sophocles'
Electra at
Smith College in his youth. Among his other compositions were an
oratorio,
The Guardian Angel, and numerous orchestral works. Many of Skilton's manuscript scores, and published copies of some of his work, are held in the library of the University of Kansas. Among these are manuscript copies of his three operas. ==Recordings==