I always liked Hall Overton's music ever since I played a little piece of his called Mood published in a collection called "American Composers of Today." Back when it was that "today". If I could rouse myself I'd go find my copy of it, as I recall it had an Eagle on the front. I don't know why I never taught the piece, I've taught other pieces from that and similar collections.
His music isn't that easy to come by, which is a shame as he was quite original and good. He died young, right after he completed an opera on Huckleberry Finn. It's one of those pieces I wish I could hear. Here is a piece from the year he died.
Pulsations (1972)
The Ensemble directed by Dennis Russell Davies
As you can hear, he had done extensive work in jazz, which is interesting in itself. His music is very original, all his own, even when you can hear the influence of other composers.
Update: The ACA which produced the performance of these pieces has asked whoever it was who posted the performance to be credited which I am only too happy to do. The American Composers Alliance is a great group who have probably done more than any other to preserve composers' works, scores, manuscripts and to promote their performance. Here is their Hall Overton page.
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