Walter Piston, underrated?

[allegroamabile]

It is a tragedy that this composer is not played at all. I heard he used to be popular and well respected fifty years ago, and it seems today that it is all gone.

What do you think?

[sbeckmesser]

The more I listen to Piston, the more I like. His works are, at worst, dependably interesting, unlike, say, many contemporaneous works by Hindemith. Piston's symphonies definitely deserve more exposure than they are currently receiving.

I had the good fortune to visit Piston in his Cambridge, MA apartment while I was in college. At that point, maybe a year or so before he died, he had long been in retirement. He seemed to be glad to see a Harvard music major. I took away the impression that he felt forgotten by not only the musical establishment in general but also by the college where he used to teach. Very sad.

--Sixtus

[SeanMartin]

I was wondering where I'd heard or seen his name before. Last night, I was going through some books in my library and discovered I had all three of his on orchestration, composition, and harmony.

Again, unlike most of you, I'm very much an amateur when it comes to things musical. I studied music when I was younger, with intent of becoming a better-than-decent pianist (certainly not concert level, just enough for my own amusement). Then Real Life got in the way: a stint in the navy, moving to Canada, coming back to the US -- and actually *doing* anything with music got pushed aside until just recently. And to that end Piston's books certainly pushed me into learning more and making my own (simplistic, I'm sure, by your standards) orchestrations. Great books, all of them. I didnt make the connection with the discussion here with Piston the composer.

[allegroamabile]

Yeah, I have a friend that read all the Walter Piston books as well. He said they were very helpful.

[Yagan Kiely]

Closed see this thread.