Walter Piston

1 9.4

An American composer who wrote classical music for orchestra and small groups and influenced 20th-century music

proper noun
/ˈwɔltər ˈpɪstən/

: Walter Piston

The concert featured a symphony by Walter Piston that captivated the entire audience.

Examples

Many music students study the orchestration techniques of Walter Piston in their courses.
Did you know that Walter Piston taught at Harvard?
Walter Piston composed several influential works for chamber ensembles.
The music of Walter Piston is celebrated for its complexity.
Many music students study the orchestration techniques of Walter Piston in their courses.
The concert featured a symphony by Walter Piston that captivated the entire audience.
Walter Piston composed several influential works for chamber ensembles.

Surface Forms

Walter Piston main

Morphology

Walter + Piston

This is a proper name referring to a specific person (an American composer), so its referent and professional identity cannot be derived from the constituent words. Proper names are arbitrary labels rather than compositional phrases — knowing 'Walter' (a given name) and 'piston' (a mechanical part) would not allow a B1 learner to infer that this is the name of a neoclassical composer.

Etymology

Walter Piston has a last name that sounds like the machine part piston, which moves up and down with steady, strong pushes. So one way to remember him is to imagine those steady pushes as the clear, regular rhythms and neat musical shapes of his 'neoclassical' works and his role as a 'teacher' of music.