Allen, Paul Hastings

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Allen, Paul Hastings

Allen, Paul Hastings, American composer; b. Hyde Park, Mass., Nov. 28, 1883; d. Boston, Sept. 28, 1952. He studied at Harvard Univ. (B.A., 1903). After serving in the U.S. diplomatic corps in Italy during World War I, he settled in Boston and composed prolifically. He wrote 12 operas, including II filtro (Genoa, Oct. 26, 1912), Milda (Venice, June 14, 1913), L’ultimo dei Moicani (Florence, Feb. 24, 1916), Cleopatra (1921), and La piccola Figaro (1931), 8 syms., including the Pilgrim Symphony (1910; won the Paderewski prize), a vast amount of chamber music, choral works, and songs.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire