Piston, Walter

▪ American composer

born Jan. 20, 1894, Rockland, Maine, U.S.

died Nov. 12, 1976, Belmont, Mass.

      composer noted for his symphonic and chamber music and his influence in the development of the 20th-century Neoclassical style in the United States.

      After graduating from the Massachusetts School of Art, Piston studied music at Harvard University and in Paris with Nadia Boulanger and Paul Dukas (1924–26). On his return to the United States he taught at Harvard University, becoming professor of music in 1944 and retiring in 1960. Highly regarded as a teacher, he wielded considerable influence on contemporary American music through his students, who included Leonard Bernstein. He published four important textbooks, Principles of Harmonic Analysis (1933), Harmony (1941), Counterpoint (1947), and Orchestration (1955).

      Piston's style of composition is Neoclassical, with occasional Romantic overtones, and is noted for its structural strength and rhythmic vivacity. His program music includes the orchestral suite Three New England Sketches (1959); his only composition for the theatre is the ballet The Incredible Flutist (1938). He composed eight symphonies, the third (1947) and seventh (1960) of which were awarded Pulitzer Prizes. He also wrote two violin concerti, a viola concerto, a concerto for two pianos, a Capriccio for harp and string orchestra (1963), a concerto for clarinet, the Lincoln Center Festival Overture (1962), and a concerto for string quartet and orchestra (1974). His chamber music includes five string quartets, a quintet for piano and string quartet, and a wind quintet.

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