Hall of Composers
Walter Piston (1894-1976)
Walter Piston learned to play the saxophone and joined the Navy Band during World War I. Following his graduation in 1924 from Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass., he studied composition with Nadia Boulanger in Paris.
He returned to the United States and joined the faculty of Harvard in 1926. His students include Leonard Bernstein, Eliot Carter, and Leroy Anderson.
Primarily an instrumental composer, his music was highly admired by Aaron Copland and commissioned by orchestras including the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, the Philadelphia Orchestra, and the Cleveland Symphony.
Recipient of a Guggenheim Award and two Pulitzer Prizes, his descriptive style has provided enduring compositions such as The Incredible Flutist (1938) and Tunbridge Fair (1950).
back
|