Howard Harold Hanson (October 28, 1896 â€" February 26, 1981) was an
American composer, conductor, educator, music theorist, and champion
of American classical music. As director for 40 years of the Eastman
School of Music, he built a high-quality school and provided
opportunities for commissioning and performing American music. In
1944, he won a Pulitzer Prize for his Symphony No. 4, and received
numerous other awards including the George Foster Peabody Award for
Outstanding Entertainment in Music in 1946.Hanson was born in Wahoo,
Nebraska, to Swedish immigrant parents, Hans and Hilma (née Eckstrom)
Hanson. 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, the forerunner of the Juilliard
School, in New York City, where he studied with the composer and music
theorist Percy Goetschius in 1914.Afterward he attended Northwestern
University, where he studied composition with church music expert
Peter C. Lutkin and Arne Oldberg. Hanson also studied piano, cello,
and trombone. He earned his BA degree in music from Northwestern in
1916, and began his teaching career as a teacher's assistant.In 1916,
Hanson was hired for his first full-time position as a music theory
and composition teacher at the College of the Pacific in California.
Only three years later, the college appointed him Dean of the
Conservatory of Fine Arts in 1919. In 1920, Hanson composed The
California Forest Play, his earliest work to receive national
attention. 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.
American composer, conductor, educator, music theorist, and champion
of American classical music. As director for 40 years of the Eastman
School of Music, he built a high-quality school and provided
opportunities for commissioning and performing American music. In
1944, he won a Pulitzer Prize for his Symphony No. 4, and received
numerous other awards including the George Foster Peabody Award for
Outstanding Entertainment in Music in 1946.Hanson was born in Wahoo,
Nebraska, to Swedish immigrant parents, Hans and Hilma (née Eckstrom)
Hanson. 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, the forerunner of the Juilliard
School, in New York City, where he studied with the composer and music
theorist Percy Goetschius in 1914.Afterward he attended Northwestern
University, where he studied composition with church music expert
Peter C. Lutkin and Arne Oldberg. Hanson also studied piano, cello,
and trombone. He earned his BA degree in music from Northwestern in
1916, and began his teaching career as a teacher's assistant.In 1916,
Hanson was hired for his first full-time position as a music theory
and composition teacher at the College of the Pacific in California.
Only three years later, the college appointed him Dean of the
Conservatory of Fine Arts in 1919. In 1920, Hanson composed The
California Forest Play, his earliest work to receive national
attention. 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.
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