McHose, Allen Irvine

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McHose, Allen Irvine

McHose, Allen Irvine, American music theorist and educator; b. Lancaster, Pa., May 14, 1902; d. Canan-daigua, N.Y., Sept. 14, 1986. He studied at Franklin and Marshall Coll. (B.S., 1923; D.F.A., 1948), the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, N.Y (B.M., 1928; M.M., 1929), and Oklahoma City Univ. (D.Mus., 1945). From 1930 to 1967 he was on the faculty at the Eastman School; from 1931 to 1962, he was chairman of the theory dept. there. He developed a theory of musical analysis based upon a statistical survey of works of J.S. Bach, and propounded it persuasively in his books Contrapuntal Harmonic Technique of the 18th Century (1947) and Basic Principles of the Technique of 18th and 19th Century Composition (1951). He also publ. Sight Singing Manual (1944; with R. Tibbs); Keyboard and Dictation Manual (1949; with D. White); Teachers’ Dictation Manual (1948); and Musical Style 1850–1920 (1950).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire