Piston, Walter (1894 - 1976)

Genre: Non-Fiction - Scholarly

Walter Piston was born in Rockland, ME and moved with his family to Boston in 1905. He graduated from Harvard (1924)and studied in Paris (1925-26) and taught music at Harvard from 1926 until his retirement in 1960. He was a noted composer, writing symphonies and other pieces commissioned by the Boston Symphony Orchestra and CBS. He earned Pulitzers for his Symphonies Nos. 3 and 7, and three New York Music Critic's Circle Awards for his Symphony no. 2, Viola Concerto, and String Quartet No. 5 as well as eight honorary doctorates. He was elected to the American Institute and Academy of Arts and Letters and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He died at his home in Massachusetts in 1976.