[Smt-talk] Allen Forte (1926-2014)

[Berry, David Carson (berrydc)]

Allen Forte died this morning. His wife, Madeleine, forwarded the following obituary (although no one on this list needs an introduction to such an esteemed figure). See the end for information about the service.

Allen Forte, born on December 23 1926 in Portland, Oregon, passed peacefully  in his Connecticut home on  Thursday October 16 2014 at 8:00 am. During World War II he served in the American Navy from 1944 to 1946 on the U.S.S. General Butner in the Pacific. Thanks to the G.I. bill he attended Columbia University where he received his masters and doctorate and taught at Teachers College. He also taught at M.I.T., Harvard University, and Yale University, where during forty four and half years he advised seventy two Ph.D. students as Battell Professor of the Theory of Music and as a leading speculative music theorist.  He was a Founder and First President of the Society of Music Theory, and a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He received an Honorary Doctorate from the Eastman School of Music. He has earned critical acclaim with twelve scholarly books and one hundred articles. The Structure of Atonal Music (1973) ranks as one of the most important contributions to music theory in the twentieth century. His use of the computer as well as traditional means of analysis has led to fuller knowledge of musical structure and thereby enhanced both the understanding and the enjoyment of music.

He is survived by his wife concert pianist Madeleine Forte, her sons, and her grandchildren.

There will be a service at the Veterans Memorial Cemetery. The address is: Veterans' Cemetery, 317 Bow Lane, Middletown, CT. Please contact Madeleine Forte at madeleineforte at yahoo.com or allen.forte at yale.edu


forwarded by
David Carson Berry
Associate Professor of Music Theory
Univ. of Cincinnati, College-Conservatory of Music