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Cecil Copping

American composer (1888-1966)

Correspondence, annotated notebooks and portrait silhouettes prepared for research
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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionFeb 10, 2026
Entity authorityQ5056020
Source-derived summary

Cecil Sprague Copping (6 July 1888 in Lisbon, New Hampshire, United States – 4 January 1966 in Los Angeles, California, United States) was an American composer of film music and a miscellaneous crew. He composed background music to nine movies and worked as a miscellaneous crew in five movies in 1920s-1930s.

Biography

Early in his life and career he lived in Rockland, Maine, where his parents were music teachers. Here, he was a member of the Young People's Christian Union and was musical director of the Farwell Opera House in 1908-1909.

In the 1920s he was active as a composer and arranger in film and Broadway in New York City.

Partial filmography

The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923) The original film was silent; Copping composed one of the soundtracks for a later re-release.

The Sea Hawk (1924)

The Lost World (1925) Composed the music for the live orchestra premiere of this silent film at New York's Astor Theatre.

The Private Life of Helen of Troy (1927)

Chicago (1927) Composed the accompany music for the premiere of this silent film in New York.

Editorial summary

This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Cecil Copping” as american composer (1888-1966). Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.

Editorial reviewStrongest as a route into the people, institutions and dated events that shaped the subject’s public record. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1888, 1966, 1908, 1909—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1888-07-06. The account is most persuasive where Cecil, Copping and American can be independently traced.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The subject matters to the people & ideas register because the source frames it as american composer (1888-1966). Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.

Evidence profile

Chronology provides the most reliable spine for this subject; interpretation should follow only after identities and dates are secure. The source revision retrieved here is dated Feb 10, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q5056020. VIAF identifies the subject as 223452969. 2 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1888, 1966, 1908 and 1909.

Critical limits

Later biographies can compress uncertainty and repeat inherited reputations, so apparently settled claims may still require comparison. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.

Best used for
  • Establishing names and roles
  • Building a first chronology
  • Locating cited institutions
Verify next

Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Cecil Copping”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Cecil Copping primary sources, Cecil Copping archive and Cecil research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Cecil Copping”?
  2. Which claims depend on a single source or contested interpretation?
  3. Which primary records establish identity, chronology and institutional ties?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Cecil Copping” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.