Moore, Douglas Stuart, 1893-1969, American composer and teacher, b. Cutchogue, N.Y. Moore studied with Horatio
Parker, Vincent
D'Indy, Nadia
Boulanger, and Ernest
Bloch. In 1926 he joined the music faculty of Columbia Univ. and was its chairman from 1940 to 1962. His major works include
Pageant of P. T. Barnum (1924) and
Moby Dick (1929) for orchestra; the operas for children
The Headless Horseman (1937; libretto by Stephen Vincent Benét) and
The Emperor's New Clothes (1949); the operas
The Devil and Daniel Webster (1939),
Giants in the Earth (1951; awarded a Pulitzer Prize),
The Ballad of Baby Doe (1956);
The Wings of the Dove (1961), and
Carrie Nation (1966); two symphonies (1945, 1948); chamber music; and settings of poetry by Donne, MacLeish, Benét, and Vachel Lindsay. Moore's music is outstanding for its theatricality and use of the American vernacular. His prose works include
Listening to Music (1932) and
From Madrigal to Modern Music (1942).
