An American composer. He served as a music critic for the "New York Herald Tribune," a newspaper published in New York. He began playing the piano at age five and the organ at age thirteen. During his time at Harvard University, he traveled to France on a scholarship, where he was exposed to French culture, including music. Subsequently, after attending the Juilliard School, he traveled to France again to study under Boulanger. He was associated with Les Six, Cocteau, and Satie, among others.

His early work, Church Sonata (1926), as its title suggests, is a Neoclassical piece in the style of Stravinsky. Other works include Four Saints in Three Acts (1927–1928), based on a libretto by the American poet Gertrude Stein, and the romantically inclined Violin Sonata (1930). He also composed film scores, winning the 1948 Pulitzer Prize for Music for Louisiana Story (1947).