Howard Hanson

Born 1896-10-28 Wahoo, NE (USA)

Died 1981-02-26

Howard Hanson's influence both as a teacher of music theory and composition and as a composer extends well beyond the boundaries of his hometown of Wahoo and the state of Nebraska. His mother was his first music teacher, but he went on to study at the Institute of Musical Art (later known as the Julliard School) and Northwestern University. For more than 40 years, Hanson served as the director of the Eastman School of Music at the University of Rochester in New York. He was a prolific composer, winning a Pulitzer Prize in 1944 for his Symphony No. 4, op. 34, subtitled Requiem.

Places Lived

Wahoo, NE
Rochester, NY
San Jose, CA
Rome, Italy

Author Of

Music and Audio

Keywords

Composer; classical music; music theory

Education

Luther College, Wahoo, NE, 1911
Institute of Musical Art (Juilliard School), New York, NY, 1914
BA in Music, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, 1916

Occupation

Composer
Professor of Composition and Music Theory
Dean

Places Worked

Eastman School of Music, University of Rochester, NY
Conservatory of Fine Arts, College of the Pacific, San Jose, CA

Honors

Prix de Rome in Music, American Academy in Rome, 1921
President of the Music Teachers' National Association,1929–1930
Member of the National Institute of Arts and Letters, elected in 1935
President of the National Association of Schools of Music, 1935–1939
Fellow of the Royal Swedish Academy, 1938
Pulitizer Prize for his Symphony No. 4, op. 34, subtitled Requiem,1944
Ditson Conductor's Award, 1945, (First recipient)
George Foster Peabody Award "for outstanding entertainment programming," 1946
Charles E. Lutton Man of Music Award, Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Fraternity national convention, 1954
Lancaster Symphony Orchestra Composer's Award, 1959
Distinguished Nebraskans Award, 1976
Number 99 on the Journal Star Sesquicentennial List of Significant Nebraskans, 2017

Bibliography

Harmonic Materials of Modern Music. 1960.
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Concerto for Organ, Harp and Strings. 1989. (CD)
Hanson Conducts Hanson. 1990. (CD)
Symphony No. 3, Elegy 3.
The Lament for Beowulf. 1991. (CD)
Symphony No.5, 'sinfonia Sacra', Opus 43.
Symphony No. 7 'a Sea Symphony'. 1992. (CD)
Merry Mount: Opera in Three Acts of Six Scenes. 1933. (vocal score)
Merry Mount Suite. 1938. (miniature score)
Serenade for Flute and Piano, Opus 35. 1948. (score)
Serenade, Opus 35, For Solo Flute, Harp. 1948. (score)
Symphony No. 2, OP. 30 'romantic.' 1948. (score)
Montgomery Lectureship on Contemporary Civilization. 1951.
Elegy: Written for the 75th Anniversary of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. 1956. (minature score)
Song of Democracy for Chorus of Mixed Voices. 1957. (vocal score)
Harmonic Materials of Modern Music. 1960.

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