Quincy Porter

Quincy Porter (1897-1966) is a descendant of early American pioneers with deep New England roots. His father was a minister and a professor at the Yale Divinity School, as was his grandfather also a professor at Yale. It is no surprise that Quincy Porter would spend his undergraduate and most of his professional life at Yale. Porter's musical style is mainly tonal, with high use of chromaticism. He did not push the edge of new musical sounds, but he definitely has a unique and fresh style of his own. While he was in Cleveland, Porter was the violist of the Ribaupierre Quartet, which may be why he is one of the few American composers who has an extensive cycle of string quartets. Other important works are his Viola Concerto (1948), often hailed as his greatest work, two symphonies 1934, 1962, and a Concerto Concertante, which won the Pulitzer prize in 1954. Along with Aaron Copland, Porter helped establish the American Music Center, the Yaddo Artist Colony and Music Festival, and co-founded the American Recording Society.