Overton, Hall(actually, Franklin)
Overton, Hall(actually, Franklin)
Overton, Hall(actually, Franklin), American pianist, teacher, and composer; b. Bangor, Mich., Feb. 23, 1920; d. N.Y., Nov. 24, 1972. He studied piano at the Chicago Musical Coll. and counterpoint at the Juilliard School of Music in N.Y. (1940–42). He served in the U.S. Army overseas (1942–45). After WWII, he studied composition with Perischetti at Juilliard, graduating in 1951; he also took private lessons with Riegger and Milhaud. At the same time, he filled professional engagements as a jazz pianist and contributed articles to the magazine Jazz Today. He was awarded two Guggenheim fellowships (1955,1957). Overton taught at Juilliard (1960–71), the New School for Social Research in N.Y. (1962–66), and at the Yale Univ. School of Music.
Works
dramatic: Opera: The Enchanted Pear Tree, after Boccaccio’s Decameron (N.Y., Feb. 7, 1950); Pietro’s Petard (N.Y., June 1963); Huckleberry Finn, after Mark Twain (N.Y., May 20,1971). orch.: 2 syms.: No. 1 for Strings (1955) and No. 2 (1962); Interplay (1964); Sonorities (1964); Rhythms for Violin and Orch. (1965); Pulsations for Chamber Orch. (1972). chamber: 3 string quartets (1950, 1954, 1967); String Trio (1957); Viola Sonata (1960); Cello Sonata (1960); various piano works, including Polarities Nos. 1 (1959) and 2 (1971), and a Sonata (1963). vocal: Songs.
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Lewis Porter