American composer best known for his folk operas dealing with American themes, the most successful being The Ballad of Baby Doe (1956). He studied composition with Horatio Parker at Yale and with Vincent d'Indy and Nadia Boulanger in Paris. From 1926 to 1962 he was on the faculty of Columbia University.

Moore's operas are generally concerned with American rural or pioneer life, and his songs and instrumental pieces often draw on folk genres. His orchestral works, such as Pageant of P.T. Barnum (1926), are usually programmatic. His operas include The Devil and Daniel Webster (1939), Giants in the Earth (1951; awarded the Pulitzer Prize), and Carrie Nation (1966).