Hume, Paul (Chandler)

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Hume, Paul (Chandler)

Hume, Paul (Chandler), American music critic; b. Chicago, Dec. 13, 1915. He studied at the Univ. of Chicago, and also took private lessons in piano, organ, and voice. He was organist, choirmaster, and baritone soloist at various churches in Chicago and Washington, D.C., and also gave song recitals. From 1946 to 1982 he was music ed. and critic of the Washington Post. He was an instructor in music history at Georgetown Univ. (1950–77), and also active as a lecturer and radio commentator on music. He publ. Catholic Church Music (1956), Our Music, Our Schools, and Our Culture (1957), The Lion of Poland (1962), King of Song (1964), and Verdi (1977). Hume leaped to national fame in 1950, when President Truman, outraged by his unenthusiastic review of Margaret Truman’s song recital, wrote him a personal letter threatening him with bodily injury. Hume sold the letter to a Conn, industrialist for an undisclosed sum of money.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire