Edward Burlingame Hill

Edward Burlingame Hill came from a distinguished family of educators at Harvard University. There, he studied music, graduating summa cum laude in 1894. He then took piano and composition lessons in Boston and studied for a summer with Charles-Marie Widor in Paris. He became very interested in the new means of the Impressionist school of composers and wrote articles in the Boston Evening Transcript and other publications dealing with French music. He also published a book in 1924 entitled “Modern French Music”.

In 1908 Hill joined the faculty of Harvard University as an instructor in music, becoming assistant professor in 1918 and professor in 1928. He retained this position until his retirement in 1940. He was a member of the National Institute of Arts and Letters and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and was made a Knight of the Legion of Honor.

In his music Hill showed himself as a follower of the French school, his works being characterized by clarity and elegance. He was also interested in jazz, whose rhythms and timbres he incorporated into his works. His best works are for orchestra (including four symphonies and four symphonic poems), but he also composed chamber and choral music.