Hunter Johnson

Hunter Johnson (April 14, 1906 - August 27, 1998) was an American composer. His compositions include a piano sonata and the orchestral music for Martha Graham's ballets "Letter to the World", based on the life and poetry of Emily Dickinson, and "Deaths and Entrances". His musical style was a combination of neoclassic, neoromantic, and nationalist. [Liner notes in "Music of Hunter Johnson", Albany Records #TROY 061, 1991.]

Johnson was born near Benson, North Carolina. He attended Benson High School and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill before leaving the state to finish his undergraduate studies at the Eastman School of Music. UNC later awarded him an honorary doctorate. He taught at Cornell and other universities. He retired in 1971 and returned to the family farm in Benson. He was the first composer laureate of North Carolina, an award he received in 1991.

References

*cite news | author=Steve Swindell | title=Composer Hunter Johnson, 92, dies | work=The News & Observer | date=August 29, 1998 | page=B7 | url=
* [http://www.albanyrecords.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=AR&Product_Code=TROY061 Albany Records product information]
* [http://dlib.nyu.edu/dram/note.cgi?id=7681 Database of Recorded American Music article]

Footnotes

Persondata
NAME=Johnson, Hunter
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION=American composer
DATE OF BIRTH=April 14, 1906
PLACE OF BIRTH=Benson, North Carolina
DATE OF DEATH=August 27, 1998
PLACE OF DEATH=Benson, North Carolina