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CD cover of recordings featuring Hanson conducting his own works.
CD cover of recordings featuring Hanson conducting his own works.

Howard Harold Hanson (October 28, 1896 – February 26, 1981) was an American composer, conductor, educator, music theorist, and ardent champion of American classical music. Events 306 - Maxentius is proclaimed Roman Emperor. 312 - Battle of Milvian Bridge: Constantine Year 1896 ( MDCCCXCVI) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Leap year Events 747 BC - Epoch (origin of Ptolemy 's Nabonassar Era 364 - Valentinian I is proclaimed Year 1981 ( MCMLXXXI) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link displays the 1981 The United States of America —commonly referred to as the A composer (literally meaning 'one who puts together' is a person who creates Music, usually in the medium of notation, for Interpretation and Performance Conducting is the act of directing a Musical performance by way of visible gestures Music theory is the field of study that deals with the Mechanics of music and how Music works

Contents

Life and work

Hanson was born in Wahoo, Nebraska to Swedish parents, Hans and Hilma (Eckstrom) Hanson. Wahoo is a city in Saunders County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 3942 at the 2000 census. "Sverige" redirects here For other uses see Sweden (disambiguation and Sverige (disambiguation. In his youth he studied music with his mother. Later, he studied at Luther College in Wahoo, receiving a diploma in 1911, then at the Institute of Musical Art in New York City, where he studied with the composer and music theorist Percy Goetschius in 1914. Year 1911 ( MCMXI) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year The City of New York Year 1914 ( MCMXIV) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year he had three wifes Afterwards he attended Northwestern University, where Hanson studied composition with church music expert Peter Lutkin and Arne Oldberg in Chicago. Throughout his education, Hanson studied piano, cello and trombone. Hanson received his BA degree in music from Northwestern University in 1916, where he began his teaching career as a teacher's assistant. Year 1916 ( MCMXVI) was a Leap year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Leap year

That same year, Hanson got his first full-time position as a music theory and composition teacher at the College of the Pacific in California, and only three years later, the college appointed him Dean of the Conservatory of Fine Arts in 1919. The University of the Pacific is a private university in Stockton California, originally affiliated with the United Methodist Church. Year 1919 ( MCMXIX) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common In 1920 Hanson composed The California Forest Play, his earliest work to receive national attention. Year 1920 ( MCMXX) was a Leap year starting on Thursday (link will display 1920 of the Gregorian calendar Hanson also wrote a number of orchestral and chamber works during his years in California, including Concerto da Camera, Symphonic Legend, Symphonic Rhapsody, various solo piano works, such as Two Yuletide Pieces, and the Scandinavian Suite, which celebrated his Lutheran and Scandinavian heritage.

Hanson was the first recipient (along with Leo Sowerby) of the American Academy's Rome Prize, awarded by the American Academy in Rome, in 1921, for both The California Forest Play and his symphonic poem Before the Dawn. Leo Sowerby ( May 1 1895 &ndash July 7 1968) American Composer and church musician was the winner of the Pulitzer Prize The Rome Prize is a prestigious American award made annually through a national competition to 15 emerging artists (working in Architecture Landscape Architecture Design The American Academy in Rome is a research and arts institution located on the Gianicolo ( Janiculum Hill) in Rome. Year 1921 ( MCMXXI) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display full 1921 calendar of the Gregorian calendar Thanks to the award, Hanson lived in Italy for three years. Italy (Italia officially the Italian Republic, (Repubblica Italiana is located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe, and on the two largest During his time in Italy, Hanson wrote a Quartet in One Movement, Lux aeterna, The Lament for Beowulf (orchestration Bernhard Kaun), and his Symphony No. 1, "Nordic", the premiere of which he conducted with the Augusteo Orchestra on May 30, 1923. Events 1416 - The Council of Constance, called by the Emperor Sigismund a supporter of Antipope John XXIII burns Jerome of Prague following Year 1923 ( MCMXXIII) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. It has been incorrectly stated that Hanson studied composition and/or orchestration with Ottorino Respighi, who studied orchestration with Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov. For the astronomer see Lorenzo Respighi (1824—1889 For the crater named after Lorenzo Respighi see Respighi (crater. Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov ( Николай Андреевич Римский-Корсаков, Nikolaj Andreevič Rimskij-Korsakov) also Nikolay Hanson's unpublished autobiography refutes the statement, attributed to Ruth Watanabe, that he had studied with Respighi.

Upon returning from Rome, Hanson's conducting career took off, making his premiere conducting the New York Symphony Orchestra in his tone poem North and West. The New York Symphony Society was an Orchestra founded in New York City by Leopold Damrosch in 1878 In Rochester, New York in 1924, he conducted his Symphony No. Rochester is a city in Monroe County, New York State, south of Lake Ontario in the United States. New York ( is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous Year 1924 ( MCMXXIV) was a Leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. 1, and this brought him to the attention of George Eastman, inventor of the Kodak camera and roll film, who chose Hanson to be director of the Eastman School of Music. George Eastman ( July 12, 1854 – March 14, 1932) founded the Eastman Kodak Company and invented Roll film, helping to Eastman Kodak Company ( is an American multinational Public company which produces imaging and photographic materials and equipment The Eastman School of Music (also known more simply as The Eastman School, Eastman, or ESM) is a music conservatory located in the Hanson held that position for forty years, turning the institution into one of the most prestigious music schools in America. He accomplished this by improving the curriculum, bringing in better teachers and refining the school's orchestras. Also, he balanced the school's faculty between American and European teachers, even when this meant passing up Béla Bartók. Béla Viktor János Bartók (March 25 1881&ndashSeptember 26 1945 was a Hungarian Composer and Pianist, considered to be one of the greatest Hanson offered a position to Bartok teaching composition at Eastman, a position that Bartok declined as Bartok did not believe that one could teach composition. Bartok placed Hanson in a difficult position as he wished to teach piano at Eastman - Eastman had a full staff of piano instuctors at the time.

In 1925, Hanson established the American Composers Orchestral Concerts. Year 1925 ( MCMXXV) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Later, he founded the Eastman-Rochester Symphony Orchestra, which consisted of first chair players from the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra and selected students from the Eastman School, and then The Festivals of American Music followed. The Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO is an American Orchestra based in the city of Rochester Monroe County New York. Hanson made many recordings with the Eastman-Rochester Symphony Orchestra, not only his own works, but also those of other American composers such as John Alden Carpenter, Charles Tomlinson Griffes, John Knowles Paine, Walter Piston, William Grant Still, and other, lesser known, composers. John Alden Carpenter ( February 28, 1876 - April 26, 1951) was a U Charles Tomlinson Griffes ( Elmira New York, September 17 1884 &ndash New York City, April 8 1920) was an American John Knowles Paine ( January 9, 1839 - April 25, 1906) was the first American -born Composer to achieve fame for his Walter Hamor Piston Jr ( January 20, 1894 &ndash November 12, 1976) was an American composer and music theorist William Grant Still ( May 11, 1895 - December 3, 1978) was an African-American classical composer who wrote more than 150 compositions Hanson estimated that over 2000 works by over 500 American composers were premiered during his tenure at Eastman.

To celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Serge Koussevitzky commissioned Hanson's Symphony No. The Boston Symphony Orchestra is an American orchestra based at Symphony Hall in Boston Massachusetts, USA WikipediaWikiProject Classical music#Biographical_infoboxes -->Dr 2, the "Romantic", and premiered it on November 28, 1930. For the town in Argentina, see 28 de Noviembre. Events Year 1930 ( MCMXXX) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display 1930 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. This work was to become Hanson's best known. It accompanied several exterior sequences and the end credits in the original release of the famous sci-fi movie Alien. Alien is a 1979 science fiction / Horror film directed by Ridley Scott and starring Sigourney Weaver. Its primary melody is performed at the conclusion of all concerts at the Interlochen Center for the Arts. Interlochen Center for the Arts is a privately owned 1200 acre (5 km² arts education institution in Interlochen Michigan, roughly 15 miles southwest of Traverse City Known as the "Interlochen Theme," it is conducted by a student concertmaster after the conductor has left the stage. There is to be no applause after its performance.

Hanson's opera Merry Mount is credited as the first American opera, since it was written by an American composer and an American librettist on an American story, and it was premiered with a mostly American cast at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, in 1934. Merry Mount is an Opera in three acts by American Composer Howard Hanson; its Libretto, by Richard Stokes The Metropolitan Opera Association of New York City, founded in April 1880 is a major presenter of all types of opera including Grand Opera. Year 1934 ( MCMXXXIV) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display full 1934 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The Opera received fifty curtain calls at its Met premiere, a record that still stands. In 1935 he wrote "Three Songs from Drum Taps" based on the poem by Walt Whitman.

The opening theme of his Third Symphony's second movement is one of the most haunting and memorable passages in American music. The Third was written 1936-38 and first played by the NBC Symphony Orchestra. The NBC Symphony Orchestra was a Radio orchestra established by David Sarnoff of the National Broadcasting Company especially for conductor Arturo

Hanson was elected as a member of the National Institute of Arts and Letters in 1935, President of the Music Teachers' National Association from 1929 to 1930, and President of the National Association of Schools of Music from 1935 to 1939. Year 1929 ( MCMXXIX) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Year 1930 ( MCMXXX) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display 1930 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Year 1935 ( MCMXXXV) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Year 1939 ( MCMXXXIX) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar.

After he composed the Hymn of the Pioneers to celebrate the 300th anniversary of the first Swedish settlement in Delaware, Hanson was selected as a Fellow of the Royal Swedish Academy in 1938. Delaware ( is a state located on the Atlantic Coast in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. Year 1938 ( MCMXXXVIII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar.

In 1944 Hanson was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Symphony No. Year 1944 ( MCMXLIV) was a Leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The Pulitzer Prize, ˈpʊlɨtsɚ PULL-it-sər is an American award regarded as the highest national honor in Newspaper journalism, 4, subtitled Requiem. In 1945 he became the first recipient of the Ditson Conductor's Award for commitment to American music. Year 1945 ( MCMXLV) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar The Ditson Conductor's Award, established in 1945 is the oldest award honoring conductors for their commitment to the performance of American music.

Hanson met Margaret Elizabeth Nelson at her parents' summer home on Lake Chautauqua in the Chautauqua Institution in New York. Hanson dedicated the Serenade for Flute, Harp, and Strings, to her; the piece was his musical request to marry her as he could not find the spoken words to ask her to marry him. They married on July 24, 1946 at her parents' summer home in Chautauqua Institution.

In 1946, Hanson was awarded the George Foster Peabody Award "for outstanding entertainment programming" for a series he presented on the Rochester, New York radio station WHAM in 1945. Year 1946 ( MCMXLVI) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full 1946 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Year 1945 ( MCMXLV) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar

From 1946 to 1962 Hanson was active in United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) . Year 1946 ( MCMXLVI) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full 1946 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Year 1962 ( MCMLXII) was a Common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1962 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization ( UNESCO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations established on November 16 UNESCO commissioned Hanson's Pastorale for Oboe and Piano, and Pastorale for Oboe, Strings, and Harp, for the 1949 Paris conference of the world body. Year 1949 ( MCMXLIX) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Paris (ˈpærɨs in English; in French) is the Capital of France and the country's largest city

In 1953 Hanson helped to establish the Edward B. Year 1953 ( MCMLIII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Benjamin Prize "for calming and uplifting music" written by Eastman students. Each submitted score was read by Hanson and the Eastman Orchestra. Winners of the Benjamin Prize appeared on Hanson's recording Music for Quiet Listening.

Frederick Fennell, conductor of the Eastman Wind Ensemble, described Hanson's first band composition, the 1954 Chorale and Alleluia as "the most awaited piece of music to be written for the wind band in my twenty years as a conductor in this field". Frederick Fennell ( July 2, 1914 in Cleveland Ohio – December 7, 2004 in Siesta Key Florida) was an internationally The Eastman Wind Ensemble is a famous American Concert band founded by Frederick Fennell at the Eastman School of Music in 1952 Year 1954 ( MCMLIV) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1954 Gregorian calendar) Chorale and Alleluia is still a required competition piece for high school bands in the New York State School Music Association's repertoire list and is one of Hanson's most frequently recorded works.

In 1960 Hanson published Harmonic Materials of Modern Music: Resources of the Tempered Scale, a book that would lay the foundation for musical set theory. Year 1960 ( MCMLX) was a Leap year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Musical set theory provides concepts for categorizing musical objects and describing their relationships Among the many notions considered was what Hanson called the isomeric relationship, now usually termed Z-relationship. In Musical set theory, an interval vector (also called an interval-class vector or ic vector is an array that expresses the intervallic content of a Pitch-class In Musical set theory, an interval vector (also called an interval-class vector or ic vector is an array that expresses the intervallic content of a Pitch-class

Hanson took the Eastman Philharmonia, a student ensemble, on a European tour from 1961 to 1962, which passed through Paris, Cairo, Moscow, and Vienna, among other cities. Year 1961 ( MCMLXI) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Year 1962 ( MCMLXII) was a Common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1962 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The Tour showcased the growth of serious American music in Europe and the Middle East.

Hanson was on the Board of Directors of the Music Educators National Conference from 1960 to 1964. Year 1960 ( MCMLX) was a Leap year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Year 1964 ( MCMLXIV) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar of the 1964 Gregorian calendar.

Even after his retirement from Eastman in 1964, Hanson continued his association with the School. Year 1964 ( MCMLXIV) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar of the 1964 Gregorian calendar.

Hanson's Song of Democracy, on a Walt Whitman text, was also performed at the inaugural concert for incoming U. Walter Whitman (May 31 1819 &ndash March 26 1892 was an American poet, Essayist journalist, and humanist. S. President Richard Nixon in 1969, an event Hanson proudly described as the first inaugural concert featuring only American music. Year 1969 ( MCMLXIX) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar.

The Eastman Kodak company, in recognition of Hanson's achievements, donated $100,000 worth of stock to the school in 1976. Year 1976 ( MCMLXXVI) was a Leap year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Hanson stipulated that the gift be used to fund the Institute of American Music at Eastman.

Hanson continued conducting, composing and writing in his eighties, up to his death in Rochester, New York. Rochester is a city in Monroe County, New York State, south of Lake Ontario in the United States. Hanson was cremated and his ashes were scattered on Bold Island; his island that lies off the coast of Stonington, Maine. It was on this Island that Hanson composed the Bold Island Suite and many of his other compositions.

Hanson's students include John Davison, John La Montaine, H. Owen Reed, Donald O. Johnston, Gloria Wilson Swisher, Robert Washburn, Homer Keller, John White, and David Borden. John Davison ( 31 May 1930 - 1999 was an American composer and pianist John La Montaine (b Oak Park, Illinois, United States, 17 March 1920) is an American Composer who won the 1959 Pulitzer Herbert Owen Reed (born June 17, 1910) is an American Composer, conductor, and Author. Donald Oscar Johnston (born 1929 is a Composer, music publisher and Educator. Gloria Wilson Swisher (born March 12, 1935) is a Composer and Educator. Robert Washburn (born 1928 is a Composer and Educator. Washburn is Dean (education and Professor Emeritus and Senior Fellow in Music at the Homer T Keller (b Oxnard, California, February 17, 1915; d May 12, 1996) was an American composer of John White may refer to Sportsmen Jock White, Scottish footballer (1897-1986 born John White John White (footballer, David Borden (b December 25 1938 in Boston Massachusetts) is an American composer of Minimalist music.

Works

Opera

Orchestral

Choral

Band

Concertante

Chamber

Keyboard

Music theory

Discography

External links

  1. Short Feature
  2. Comprehensive Catalog & More
  3. Works
  4. Highbeam
  5. Biography
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