William S. Newman
Encyclopedia
William Stein Newman was an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 musicologist.

He was born in Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...

. From 1945 he taught at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is a public research university located in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States...

. He is best remembered for his three volume History of the Sonata Idea, a study of the term "sonata" comprising The Sonata in the Baroque Era, The Sonata in the Classical Era, and The Sonata Since Beethoven. He also wrote on performance practice.

His textbook, Understanding Music, is perhaps the most thoroughgoing text on music appreciation in the English language. "Thoroughgoing" is a word he would have used.

Newman was initiated as an honorary member of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia
Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia
Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia is an American collegiate social fraternity for men with a special interest in music...

 by the Alpha Rho chapter in May, 1963.

Newman died in Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Chapel Hill is a town in Orange County, North Carolina, United States and the home of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and UNC Health Care...

.

Philip F. Gura
Philip F. Gura
Philip F. Gura is an American scholar, writer, editor, and educator. He currently serves as William S. Newman Distinguished Professor of American Literature and Culture at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he holds appointments in the Departments of English and Comparative...

, a professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is a public research university located in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States...

, is the William S. Newman Distinguished Professor of American Literature and Culture.

A concert series at UNC-Chapel Hill is named in his honor. His intense interests extended from pugilism (specifically, boxing), to hands-on involvement with sports cars, and, of course, the Chopin Etudes and the Beethoven Sonatas. Pianists should read his "The Pianist's Problems".
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