William Waite
musicologist
- February 28, 1980
- 62 years
About William Waite
William Waite, 62, American musicologist.
Explore other notable deaths in 1980 or deaths in February 1980.
The Deaths Archive presents
How well do you know William Waite?
Explore their life. Test your knowledge. Beat the challenge.
10 questions · One legacy · How much do you really know?
Challenge your friends
Play together in real-time.
Advertisement
Full Biography
|William G. Waite (October 1917, in Massachusetts – February 28, 1980) was an American musicologist.
Biography
William G. Waite was born in October 1917 in Massachusetts.[citation needed] He was educated at Yale University. He later received his PhD in 1951. His dissertation, The Rhythm of Twelfth-Century Polyphony: its Theory and Practice outlines his ideas on modal interpretation of organum duplum. The second half of this work is a transcription of organum from the Magnus liber organi.[citation needed]
In 1947, Waite joined the Yale music department. He was chairman of the music department from 1965 to 1979. During his tenure, the department grew into the Yale School of Music. His textbook, The Art of Music (1962), written with Beekman Cannon and Alvin Johnson, was a popular introductory music text for many years.[citation needed]
Waite married. He had two daughters and a son. He died of pancreatic cancer[citation needed] on February 28, 1980, aged 62, at the Yale Health Center Infirmary.
Content from Wikipedia — licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0
Interactive
Test Your Knowledge – Trivia Challenge
How well do you know this person's life and legacy?
No account needed to play. Sign in to keep your score on the leaderboard.
Books & Media
Find books, audiobooks and films about William Waite on Amazon.

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Amazon and the Amazon logo are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates.
Sources
- Wikipedia
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Waite
- CC BY-SA 4.0
- Sep 26, 2026
- View article
- View record
- October 21, 2026
- Sep 26, 2026
People who died on February 28
Related People
Spotted an error?
Help us keep the archive accurate. Report a correction with a source.
Report an error for William Waite →Advertisement











